Training Day Blues Part 2
What stood before the azure-haired samurai was his own team. Zhan, Rena, and Ember stood up against him with determination that surprised even him. They saw what Team JNPR was able to do against their team leader, and they wanted to prove to them, or even themselves, they had a reason to stand by his side.
Drawing his swords, Azura gave his teammates a genuine smile as he activated his Semblance. His aura became visible and shifted and crackled like electricity as both it and his eyes slowly changed from azure-blue to cobalt. Then from cobalt to sapphire. Finally, as it changed from sapphire to navy, Azura smirked a bit and readied his swords as he dropped into a stance.
"Now remember, team! Do not hold back! Let us show them all what Team AZRE is really made of!" Azura told his teammates, obviously already getting excited to spar with his team.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Rena said as in unison the trio drew their arms and readied to stand against uncertain odds.
Azura smirked wildly at that. "Now that is what I am talking about! I am already getting fired up!" Azura said, barely containing his enthusiasm.
"Then let's see how you handle real fire, boss!" Zhan roared as he activated his Semblance and launched a massive fireball from his axe like a golf ball on the green.
To everyone's surprise but Team AZRE's, Azura immediately activated the Dust mechanisms in his hilt as his blade glowed red before catching fire. Slashing with his katana, Azura unleashed a wave of fire that clashed with the fireball before slicing through it. This forced the rest of Team AZRE to dodge out of the way as Azura rushed in with incredible speed. His eyes were on the tallest member of his team as he rushed in to attack the powerhouse blacksmith that was his partner.
Zhan barely had time to raise his ax to block his leader's sword swing, surprising him with the force behind it. The blow was heavier than when they had sparred one on one earlier in the week, the power behind it knocking him back. Rena and Ember's eyes widened along with Zhan's when they realized that their leader had been holding back during one-on-one spars. But now, with all three of them against him, he saw no reason to go easy and could cut loose more.
Going on the attack, Azura swung at Zhan's left leg with his katana, forcing the tall blacksmith to block the blow. Meanwhile, Rena rushed in with her spear in hand, attempting to stab at their battle junkie leader's blind spot while he was open. As her partner moved, Ember activated her Semblance and disappeared from view completely. Azura smiled at the immediate coordination from his team.
Barely dodging Rena's stab, he had to use his wakizashi to block the slash she followed up with while also using his katana to barely slide Zhan's overhead slash to the side to narrowly avoid being hit. The behemoth blacksmith tried to counter with a sideways slash towards his friend's head as Rena swung low in an attempt to take Azura's feet out from under him. Jumping while turning, Azura barely slid between the two-fronted attack as he was left in midair for a moment. He then tried to stab Zhan while kicking down at Rena. However, the bronze skinned powerhouse and the equally bronzed strategist smirked as this was exactly what they wanted.
Before Azura could land a hit on either of them, a loud clang was heard as an invisible blunt force weapon impacted against his armored torso. The force of the hit knocked him back as he spun in midair and landed on his feet, skidding along the ground while trying to keep his back from touching it. Recovering, the azure samurai began to use his katana to cut through a barrage of small Dust rockets, each no bigger than a soda can, that came launching in out of nowhere. Each rocket he cut exploded behind him as Azura smiled at his team.
"Clever. You two were distracting me while Ember used her Semblance to sneak up on me and attack from a blind spot." Azura praised his teammates.
"Question is not how clever we are, but how clever you are to counter." Rena answered bluntly and dryly, keeping her eyes on him.
"This is going to be fun! Now I am really getting fired up!" Azura exclaimed happily, rushing in at his teammates while keeping an eye open for any disturbances that would signal Ember's presence.
"How about you keep your eyes on this!!" Zhan roared, rushing in with his weapon in sword mode.
Smiling, Azura ran to meet his partner and blocked his overhead slash. However, Zhan was merely a diversion as Rena, blade-like spearhead alight with flames, began slashing and stabbing at their azure leader. Blocking an overhead slash from the bronze-skinned strategist and a deflecting a stab from the behemoth blacksmith, Azura heard the sound of a rocket being launched. Barely having time to dodge, this left him open to a massive baseball swing slash from Zhan that knocked him backwards.
Skidding back on his feet, Azura forced his back to not hit the ground and readied himself as he heard another rocket be launched. Slicing through the small missile, the two halves exploded behind him as he cycled through the Dust in the mechanisms of his guard to the Gravity Dust chamber. Pointing the blade of his sword behind him, Azura activated the mechanism as a blast of gravitational energy shot him through the air like a bullet from a gun. This time, he chose to target Rena, believing that cutting the head off the snake before the head could formulate a strategy to defeat him was his best option.
Soaring through the air at unnatural speeds, Azura lashed out with a flying kick at Rena. This forced her to block with the shaft of her spear as she was sent skidding back, her blue-haired leader practically bouncing off her from his own kick by using the force of the impact to propel himself off her. Smirking, he quickly landed on his feet and fired another Gravity round to launch himself at Zhan. The behemoth blacksmith found himself unable to block the blow in time, taking a slash to his unprotected torso that sent him skidding back.
While the two bronze-skinned members of Team AZRE tried to recover, Azura shut his eyes and tried to listen. Hearing almost imperceptible footsteps coming his way, the azure samurai barely managed to dodge a tetsubō swing that cracked the ground next to him. Spinning on the ball of his foot, Azura lashed out with a roundhouse kick that he felt hit home and heard a feminine grunt. Smirking, he saw dust from the ground be kicked up as an invisible figure was skidding back.
Rushing in, Azura quickly slashed at the invisible figure, resulting in a resounding clang being heard as a metal weapon was used to block the swing. Activating an Ice Dust round in his wakizashi, the shorter blade glowed an icy white as the azure swordsman slashed with it. A wall of ice erupted in front of him like a frosty volcano, trapping the invisible figure that was Ember via freezing her. The ice began starting to get smashed as the camouflaged farm girl repeatedly swung at the frozen prison encasing her lower half.
Rushing in at Rena while leaving the unseen wallflower stuck in her wintery trappings, Azura made his move. Slashing at the serious spear woman, he forced her on the defensive as Zhan recovered his bearings. Seeing Ember trapped in ice while still invisible as their leader had Rena pinned in place by his repeated slashes, he knew he had to free the shy invisible girl in order to get their strategy back on track. Running Fire Dust into the blade of his weapon, the tall weaponsmith launched another fireball at the ice trapping his diminutive teammate.
As soon as the red-hot sphere of flame contacted the ice, it began to melt, crack, and weaken. Soon, a resounding smash was heard as the camouflaged farm girl freed herself from her weakened frozen bonds by breaking the ice. Rushing in to help their strategist, Zhan slashed with his axe-sword as Ember lashed out with her tetsubō while still invisible. Catching Azura off guard, the two-person attack knocked him away, sending him crashing into the ground as the azure samurai's back hit the ground for the first time in the entire match.
Climbing to his feet, Azura smiled and deactivated his Semblance as he chuckled happily. "Alright, team! That is enough! I have seen all I need to!" Azura called out, signaling for Team AZRE to cease fighting.
"Wait, that's it?" Zhan asked, confused.
"That is, it. You three made my back hit the ground faster than Team JNPR did, which would have left me open for a finishing move. I have seen everything I need to in order to judge your skills." Azura told them, a smile on his face.
"And your thoughts?" Ember asked nervously, rubbing her thighs with the emotion as she turned visible in a place Azura somewhat didn't expect.
"Who wants to hear my thoughts first?" Azura asked his team.
"I am the effective leader of this scenario, so I will take it first." Rena said, stepping forward and standing at attention.
Azura smiled at his lead strategist. "Then I will get right to the point. Rena, you quickly came up with a strategy for taking on a faster and physically stronger opponent that the other two were able to notice immediately. You worked well with Zhan at herding me into position for Ember's unseen attacks, using your speed with his raw power to keep me off balance so that she could get her hits in. Color me impressed."
"Thank you, commander." Rena answered, before shaking her head a bit, "I mean, leader."
Azura waved it off as he continued. "I am just giving credit where it is due. Though I will say that you could stand to work on your physical strength and reaction time. That will make it easier for you to hold out against a physically superior opponent if one of your teammates gets disabled while the other tries to free them so that everyone can stick to the plan." He told the Atlesian Spartan girl.
With a simple nod, Rena acknowledged his words and stepped back in line as Zhan stepped up to take her place. Azura quickly noticed Zhan felt less confident about what he thought he was going to tell him.
The azure team leader smiled reassuringly to calm his partner down. Seeing Zhan visibly relax, he began his evaluation. "Zhan, you really showed off why you are the main powerhouse of our team. You took my hits like a champion and kept pressing on as best you could while getting good, strong hits in yourself. At the same time, you also assessed the situation and made a quick and efficient judgment call to help Ember free herself when she was trapped while I was trying to take down Rena." Azura praised his partner's efforts.
"Thanks, boss. Now what do I need to work on?" Zhan said surprised, not expecting that, or at least all of that.
"I would recommend working on increasing your speed and reaction time to make it easier to block, deflect, and dodge hits. Being able to take a hit is all well and good, but it preserves aura and stamina if you cannot get hit at all. We will also need to work on sharpening your skills more to make more efficient use of your strength and use of your Semblance." Azura replied, holding nothing back.
"Don't know how I'm supposed to do that, but I imagine yah already got something in mind for later. Thanks, boss, glad you didn't break us today." Zhan said with a smirk.
Azura smirked back. "Like I could have even if I'd wanted to, big guy." Azura replied with a pat to his partner's back.
"B-be honest, A-Azura… How b-bad did I do?" Ember nervously asked.
Azura gave his shy teammate a genuine smile. "Not bad at all, Ember. In fact, you were the lynch pin of the formation. If you had not attacked when I was open and exploited those openings while using your Semblance to remain unseen, you three would not have been able to knock me on my back so quickly." He told her, genuinely complimenting her on her work.
"R-really?" Ember asked, stunned. The other teams were somewhat stunned as well at what he was saying.
Azura nodded at that. "Yes, really. Not only that, but, with how naturally quiet you are, I had to actually concentrate to be able to notice your presence while you were invisible. Something I could not do with Zhan and Rena keeping me off balance. Hence why I forced them to give me some breathing room so that I could have the time I needed to notice your movements and freeze you in place. On top of that, you hit surprisingly hard and move shockingly quickly for someone your size." Azura praised her.
All Ember could muster in response to this was a sheepish blush as she now knew what was coming next.
"However, there is room for improvement. If we can increase your strength and speed even more while further sharpening your stealth skills, we can make you more of a force to be reckoned with on your own while also improving our team combinations. We will need to sharpen your speed, agility, reaction time, and stealth skills while also improving your physical strength. That being said, I'm genuinely pleased and impressed at what we must work with when it comes to you." Azura finished.
"I-I understand…" Ember nodded and bowed her head before joining her team.
Azura smiled as he appraised his team. "Overall, nicely done Team AZRE. I would say that, even though we have only known each other for about a week, we are probably one of the more well-oiled first year teams here right now. I knew that all those training sessions this week to familiarize ourselves with each other would pay off." Azura told them, finishing his evaluation.
They all nodded with respect, having felt that they earned this praise. Though they still needed to improve, both as Huntsmen and teammates, knowing the true feelings and beliefs of their team leader was comforting. As they walked over to the sidelines, the other teams could see this clearly worn on their face, and walking with taller, straighter backs.
"Alright team, it's time for us to show him what we got!" Ruby said, getting herself psyched.
"Hell yeah, Ruby! Let's do this!" Yang excitedly replied, bringing out Ember Celica.
"Am I the only one reticent about our chances?" Weiss asked, looking around.
"Sometimes Ice queen, not speaking is the best practice." Blake answered dryly.
"Like you're one to talk." Weiss shot back.
"Already missing the point, I see. I predict you're going to hit the ground first." Blake challenged.
"Then I will just have to prove you wrong." Weiss huffed, drawing her rapier, and getting into her traditional stance.
"Cut the back chatter, you two! It's fight time! Let's show Mr. Elite Samurai what we're made of!" Yang snapped out, getting their attention.
Shaking his head at the obvious dysfunction between Team RWBY, Azura smiled as he cracked his neck, then his knuckles. "Well, at least two of you are eager to go! I like the enthusiasm!"
"You're hitting your back Azura, and then you're not getting up!!" Ruby roared, a feral glint forming in her eyes as she rushed forward with animalistic speed towards the sturdy samurai.
With a smirk, Yang followed suit by also running in behind her sister. Meanwhile, Weiss and Blake cautiously but quickly brought up the rear. Sighing with a smirk as he drew his blades, Azura quickly activated his Semblance, his aura swiftly going from azure to navy. Taking off at the charging all girl team with surprising speed, the azure samurai met the Rosey Reaper head on and dodged under a slash from her scythe blade.
'These four are really uncoordinated. At least Team JNPR knew how to at least rush in together.' He thought, a slight hint of disappointment in his mental tone.
Dodging and ducking slashes from Ruby, Azura cycled through the Dust chambers on the guards of his swords. Landing on the Lightning Dust chambers, Azura's blades glowed electric yellow as sparks of lightning arced off the blades. Slashing, Azura unleashed two slash waves of Lightning Dust at the red and black wearing Leader of Team RWBY. Using her Semblance's great speed, she just barely evaded the close-range waves of yellow electricity only to be confused when Azura smirked.
Looking back, she realized that he had not actually been aiming at her. He was aiming for her team. It was then that Yang was forced to launch herself over the twin waves with shots from her gauntlets to evade them. Meanwhile, Weiss created a Glyph with her Semblance that brought up a wall of ice in front of her to block one wave while Blake used her own Semblance to leave a Shadow copy in her place to take the hit from the other one as she rushed in between the two waves of lightning.
Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Azura rushed in and nailed the Red Reaper with a mawashi kick to the gut that knocked the wind out of her and knocked her backwards. Reacting quickly, Yang caught her sister as they were both sent skidding back while Weiss and Blake rushed in at the azure samurai. Weiss activated another Glyph at her feet, this time a time dilation one, as she quickly sped up and came at Azura from the left while Blake rushed in from the right.
Blocking and deflecting a stab from the Schnee heiress while blocking a slash from the black-haired ninja girl, Azura smirked. "Not bad. A little uncoordinated, but this is getting fun." He told them, pushing them off to knock them both away.
"How's THIS for fun!" Yang called out as she came at Azura from above, preparing to try to deliver a piledriver strength punch down onto him.
Without even looking, Azura raised his leg and hit the blonde pugilist with a vertical kick to the stomach that knocked the wind out of her. Lowering his leg, Azura let her fall as he jumped and spin kicked Yang, knocking her away. Smirking, Azura readied his blade as the members of Team RWBY recovered.
"You were right, Yang. That was fun." He said playfully.
"Alright guys, form up and let's hit him with everything we got!" Ruby yelled but looked around and saw Blake and Weiss were acting on their own plans.
Rushing in at Azura, the white-haired Ice Queen, tried to stab at the azure samurai. However, Azura ducked under the stab and rushed in, driving his knee into Weiss's stomach with enough force to drive the breath from her lungs and make her cough up spit. As the diminutive Schnee heiress backed up attempting to catch her breath, Azura lashed out with a roundhouse kick that sent her tumbling into the dirt, breaking her aura and taking her out of the fight.
"Told you." Blake said with a smirk.
"Did someone get the license plates…" Weiss groaned in pain as Azura turned his predatory attention to the sleek pseudo ninja.
Rushing in, Azura was on Blake before she could react. Raising his katana, he slashed down at her as she used her two blades of Gambol Shroud to block. However, when the samurai's sword made contact, the force of the impact drove her to one knee as she could barely stand from the weight behind the strike.
'He's stronger than… No, that can't be…' Blake thought as a sense of dread at what was now before her kicked in.
As she thought this, Blake found herself left open as Azura lashed out with a mawashi kick to her crouched form. Snapping out of her thoughts, her eyes widened as she saw the incoming foot coming at her face in surprising speed. Having no time to block, she could only take it to the face as the force of the blow sent her flying back. Tumbling through the dirt, Blake came to a stop and shook her head in an attempt to get her bearings as she saw a shadow coming down at her. Looking up, she saw Azura coming flying down on her, mid swing with a downward slash.
"Blake, look out!" Ruby yelled, but it was too late.
"Oh shi…" Was all the poor girl was able to utter before being silenced with crushing force.
The force of the impact hitting Blake's back drove her back into the dirt, cracking the ground beneath her as her aura was broken.
"You'll pay for what you've done, Azura." Ruby growled, turning to face him with fury in her eyes.
Azura smiled at the fire in the Rosey Reaper's eyes. "By all means, make me pay. If you can, that is…" Azura playfully told her.
The two sisters then rushed in at Azura, Ruby not using her Semblance in order to move at the same pace as Yang. Coming at him from opposite sides, Yang on the left and her little sister on the right, the blonde pugilist lashed out with a punch as Ruby swung with her scythe. Smirking, Azura blocked the blade of the red reaper's scythe with his katana while blocking the older sister's punch by punching her fist with his own.
Azura chuckled as the two sisters were surprised by his reaction speed. "Interesting! It looks like you two sisters will actually make me work for a win!" Azura told them with his battle maniac grin.
"We are doing more than that! We are avenging our sisters-in-arms!! Rip him apart, Yang!" Ruby roared as Yang began to see a disturbing shift in her sister's behavior. Yet all too familiar for her liking.
'This isn't good…!' Yang thought, knowing what was happening as Ruby was starting to lose herself in her Beastman instincts.
This created an opening for Azura to push them off. Going for Yang, he spin-kicked the older sister back. Sticking her scythe blade into the ground, Ruby began firing sniper shots at Azura in an attempt to hit him. However, he simply cut and deflected each bullet with a smirk as the blonde fighter got her bearings and rushed in. Firing shots of Fire Dust, the blonde pugilist attempted to wear the azure samurai down from a distance as she rushed in for close combat.
Soon, Ruby ran out of bullets in her clip and was forced to reload. This gave Azura an opening to rush at Yang and meet her before she was ready. Blocking a punch from the blonde brawler, the azure swordsman dodged a haymaker before lashing out with a rolling kick that she just barely blocked. As soon as the hit contacted one of her Ember Celica, the blonde fighter's eyes widened at the weight behind it as it sent her skidding back.
"He hits like a fucking truck…!" Yang muttered, trying to get her bearings.
Seeing that she had no choice, Yang swiftly activated her Semblance. As her hair began to glow like fire, the blonde pugilist punched her fists together before rushing in as Azura ran to meet her. The two swiftly clashed and began exchanging blows. Ruby, having reloaded, prepared to fire. However, she could not get in a clear shot without risking hitting her sister.
Meanwhile, Yang was taking a beating. She tried to throw in some hits, but Azura was too fast. He dodged or deflected most of her hits as he lashed out with kicks and slashes from his wakizashi to drive her back. Finally, she was pushed back within slashing distance of his katana. Hitting her with a powerful slash, the azure samurai knocked her back a bit.
Seeing his opening, Azura began raining blows down on her. He slashed with his katana, lashed out with mawashi kicks. Just raining down punishment on the blonde fighter. However, unbeknownst to him, that was her plan.
Smirking, Yang felt she had taken enough damage. It was time to end it. Launching herself with Ember Celica, she got close enough to be past the range Azura could use his blades. She then threw a powerful haymaker at the blue swordsman, putting every ounce of strength she had and all of the damage she had taken into the single shot. However, what happened next surprised her.
Dropping his blades, Azura dodged along the swing before grabbing onto her arm. He then used the force behind the blow to flip Yang and slam her into the ground with all of his strength plus the force of the blow. As soon as Yang hit the ground, a massive crater was smashed into the ground as dust was kicked up by the force of the impact. Coughing up spit from the force behind the impact, Yang gasped out in pain as double the force Azura had been hitting her with combined with the full strength of his maneuver broke her aura and nearly knocked her out.
"Yang!!" It was everyone's borderline horror to the sheer force of such a move.
"Oh, so that is what her Semblance does. Very impressive, but also very risky." Azura commented in concern, checking to make sure the blonde brawler was still okay.
Pressing two fingers to Yang's neck, Azura was relieved to feel that she was still breathing. Simply dazed by the force of the impact. "Are you okay, Yang…?" Azura asked, a bit concerned.
"Did someone get the number of that train that hit me…?" Yang asked in a daze.
"Oh good, she's fine." Nora sighed in relief.
"I don't think what happened qualifies as being fine, Nora." Ren corrected.
"I don't think you should be worrying if she's fine…" Jaune nervously said, pointing to Ruby.
Ruby stood there staring at Azura through the entire affair. With a sudden motion and shrieking as the blade of Crescent Rose bit deep into the hardened fall earth. Curling her fingers like claws, she felt her muscles and skin harden and tense as primeval power began to flow into her veins. On the edges of her silver eyes formed cracks of amber.
"Last chance to back out, Azura." Ruby muttered in an uncharacteristically deep and feral tone for such a sweet girl.
Turning his Semblance down to azure-blue, Azura turned to look at Ruby. "Apologies, Ruby. But this match is not done yet." Azura told her, picking up his blades and dropping back into his stance.
"You'll wish you did." Ruby said as she began to step forward, eyes locked on his sword.
Seeing that she was walking in without Crescent Rose, Azura decided to make it a fair fight. Sheathing his blades, Azura walked towards the red hooded reaper while cracking his knuckles. Dropping into a stance with his fists at the ready, Azura rushed in and lashed out at Ruby with a punch.
However, what happened next surprised everyone, even the slowly recovering Yang. Ruby, faster than most of the others could react, reached up and caught Azura's punch with her bare hand. The force of the impact of an armored fist hitting skin echoed through the clearing as everyone, especially Azura, was shocked as the rosy reaper caught the blow without even flinching.
"No way…" Zhan muttered in breathy shock.
"Ruby… Don't…" Yang muttered, horrified at what everyone was about to see unleashed.
"Did she just…?" Weiss asked, looking around at everyone.
"Your eyes don't deceive you, Ice Queen. This is now a real fight." Rena said sternly.
"WHAT!?" Azura called out in disbelief, unable to comprehend that this little girl caught his punch with such ease.
"My turn." Ruby said coldly and reared her arm back to deliver a punch in kind.
As soon as it made contact, the force of Ruby's blow reared Azura back, dazing him for a moment. Seeing her opening, Ruby rushed in with her Semblance and nailed Azura with a haymaker to the ribs. Coughing up, Azura stumbled back and coughed in pain as Ruby lashed out with a rising knee, hitting him in the chin. Finally, Ruby knocked him back with a mawashi kick of her own that sent Azura skidding back.
Dropping to one knee, Azura clutched his ribs and coughed up spit, hacking and coughing like he was hacking up a lung in pain. Panting, Azura felt like he had just taken a bullet train to the ribs. That hit felt like getting hit full force by his father without his Semblance. He had not felt pain like that in years.
Chuckling, Azura got to his feet and wiped a bit of spittle from his lips. "N… Not bad, Ruby… Looks like I underestimated you…" Azura panted out in pain, trying to catch his breath.
"You had your chance, now you're going to feel every bit of pain you put my team through." Ruby said, relentlessly walking towards him to finish what she started.
Smiling, Azura chuckled and coughed a bit. "Good… That means I do not have to hold back as much against you…!" He replied, powering back up to cobalt blue.
Rushing in a Ruby, Azura lashed out with a chop aimed at Ruby's neck. Barely blocking it, the red hooded reaper lashed out with a haymaker that Azura dodged. This left her open to a rolling kick that she barely got her arm up to block, sending her skidding back. Rushing in, Azura went for a haymaker of his own, which Ruby barely caught before lashing out with a right cross. Deflecting the right cross, Azura brought Ruby down into a knee to the stomach.
Crying out a bit, Ruby gasped in pain and stumbled. This left her open to a rising knee to the chest, a punch to the stomach, and then a haymaker to the left cheek. Grabbing her by the head, Azura brought her face first into a rising knee before following up with a right uppercut that made her stumble back. However, Ruby quickly shook it off and glared at Azura.
"What did your parents feed her?! Anvils and castor oil!?" Pyrrha yelled in stunned amazement at Yang.
"You can blame the water." Yang muttered in horror, though for very different reasons than the others. Her sweet baby sister was being consumed by a monster.
Rushing in with her Semblance, Ruby hit Azura hard with an uppercut to the stomach. The blow drove the air from his lungs as he gasped out, stumbling back. Hitting Azura with a spin kick to the face, Ruby knocked him back. Since he had no choice, Azura knew he could not hold back. Especially with the state Ruby was in.
'Can I even beat her like this without seriously hurting her…?' He thought, shaking his head, and dropping into his ready stance.
Rushing in with her Semblance, Ruby was ready to finish this. However, Azura had caught onto her linear movements. Moving to the side while raising his knee, Azura drove his knee into her stomach. With the added force from her Semblance's speed and acceleration, the blow drove the wind from her lungs as she dropped to her knees, clutching her stomach, and caught up spit.
Lashing out with a mawashi, Azura kicked Ruby across the face, knocking her to the ground and dazing her. Panting, Azura dropped to one knee before checking her pulse. Seeing that she was still breathing, he sighed in relief and got up before turning to the others. Trying to walk over to them, Azura collapsed to his knees and coughed up spit, hacking like crazy.
"You all right!? Is Ruby all right!? The hell happened back their boss!!??" Zhan yelled, rushing up to his team leader, while Yang bolted as fast as her injured body could towards her sister.
"I am okay… just a couple of broken ribs… and maybe a bruised stomach…! She is fine, too… just knocked out….!" Azura panted out, obviously in extreme pain.
Meanwhile, Yang was checking out Ruby to make sure Azura was right. To her relief, she noted that Ruby was just out cold, breathing normally. Not only that, but everything seemed to be intact.
"How is she, Yang?" Blake asked.
"She's fine. Like Azura said, she's just knocked out." Yang sighed in relief.
"That got kind of brutal for a spar… didn't it?" Ember asked, concerned.
"No shit…" Azura panted out, surprising everyone with the fact that he just swore.
"So, are we going to get our evaluation now?" Weiss asked.
"Gimme a bit… I need to mend my broken ribs…! Actually, maybe I will just fax it to you…!" Azura panted out, wheezing in pain.
"Need some help, Azura?" Zhan asked, Jaune walking up beside him.
"Sure… help me get the first aid kit…" Azura replied in pain.
Jaune and Zhan got under each of Azura's shoulders and helped him begin to limp away. As they left for the dorms, Yang gingerly cradled Ruby in her arms as she slowly began to carry her back as well. As she looked down at her sister, then up at Azura, she felt herself shudder. If there was but a single more mistake made this day, the outcome would have taken a more tragic turn.