Chapter 26

"Haaah...hahhh..."

"Where is it?! Where did it go?!" Sophie looked around bewildered. The large clearing she and her team had been in seemed to have disappeared, replaced by the wooded section of trees. The Deathstalker was nowhere in sight either. "You wanna tell me what the heck you just did?"

Pyrrha put a steadying hand onto the panting Jacey. "Are you alright? Can you tell us what happened?"

"Just...give me a moment."

Jacey wiped the sweat off of her brow and stood up. "Right...sorry about that. That was my semblance, Checkpoint. I determine a spot I want to return to and mark it, then I can come back to it later at any time."

"Is that why you poked the ground earlier?"

"Yeah." She pointed down into the ground where there was a familiar small hole right between where she was standing. "I can bring others too."

"That's kinda cool..." Sophie muttered. "Imagine if you went to Mistral or something, then you could go back there at any time and save on travel expenses..." She shrugged. "Anyway, send us back, the grimm has probably left by now."

Jacey was quiet for a moment. "I...can't..."

"What?"

"M-my semblance only lets me go to a place I've already marked. After using it, I have to mark another spot..."

"You mean we're stuck here back at the beginning?!" Sophie whirled around to the quiet girl. "This is all your fault!" she said jabbing a finger at her.

"Now hold on!" Pyrrha stepped in front of the girl. "That's going too far."

"If she could've talked, then she should've just spoken up from the beginning! Something like: 'Hey, I know how to rescue our teammate! Hey, I can pacify giant monsters! Or hey, my name is blank! Any one of those would've been nice."

"Well...that would have been helpful..." Pyrrha turned around to face the teammate behind her. The girl nervously bit her lip and then stooped down. Using her finger, she carved a single word into the dirt.

RAELIN

"Raelin?" Pyrrha asked tilting her head. Raelin gave a small nod and stood up back.

"Great." Sophie muttered. "Because knowing her name solves all our problems now huh?"

"Cut her some slack, Raelin saved one of our members from the deathstalker's grip."

"Whatever! Of course you'd stick up for her Ms. Perfect!"

Pyrrha was about to respond when Jacey walked between the two of them, holding her hands up. "Please! We're supposed to be a team remember? Arguing only makes it harder to work together and attracts more grimm."

"Fine...sorry..." Sophie muttered. "Where do you think we should go?"

Jacey turned to Pyrrha. "So...where do you think we should go?"

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"Yikes..." I mindlessly tugged at the grass while Pyrrha continued. "So what happened next?"

"After that, we began looking for the temple again. We hardly said another word to each other. By the time we found the temple after having backtracked so much, we were the last ones to arrive. Sophie wasn't exactly happy about that. Next, during the ceremony Jacey was named the leader. She began to desperately apologize to me, saying she'd somehow stolen the position that was rightfully mine. That I was far more qualified to take charge." Pyrrha sighed, placing one of her gloved hands on her forehead.

Wow. One of her teammates doesn't like Pyrrha, the other practically worships her, and the last one isn't really much of a team player. "Sounds like a headache."

"You could call it that, yes..."

"Listen..." I said rubbing the back of my head. "Maybe I could try and help? I mean, it is your team, but judging by your story I think I understand what's going on."

"That's quite alright Aero." Pyrrha stood up, brushing a few fallen leaves off of her waist. "I do appreciate the thought, but I think it would be better for us to try and work this out as a team."

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha being on team Jasper IS technically my fault after all... "You and your team need to sit down and have a talk, but that's not gonna go so well unless someone else gets involved."

"I am sure we'll find a way to work things out, thank you though. Honestly, I feel better after getting a chance to talk about this with you. Thank you for allowing me to vent a bit."

"Well...okay, if you're sure. If you change your mind, go ahead and give me a call. Anyway, I should be heading back to the dorm before the team starts wondering where I am."

"Alright Aero, I'll see you later then perhaps." I started to walk off when. "Um, Aero..."

"Yeah?" 'Did she change her mind about wanting help?'

Pyrrha paused for a moment, unconsciously tapping her hip. "Would you mind it too much if I were to accompany you on your walks every now and again? I understand we're not teammates, and if it'd be a bother then-"

"Hmm? No, that'd be fine. It's nice to have you around, do you wanna go on a walk with me when we both have time?"

Pyrrha smiled. "I would like that."