Aegle found herself equal parts intrigued and confused by Lily's explanation of the writing she used. Though she had known that the kingdom's alphabet was not the only style of script in Remnant, she had never really thought much on the subject. She'd also never been inclined towards learning a second language, not when she had enough trouble learning, reading and writing the language she had been born into. The idea of speaking another tongue or writing in another language was as arcane to Aegle as magic and alchemy. A few puzzled and uncertain moments passed wherein neither girl said anything, both caught in their own thoughts on the subject's recently broached. It was only Lily's suggestion that they get their food that drew Aegle out of her uncommonly thoughtful reverie.
"Yeah, sure." The easy going girl obliged, before she took the initiative and rose from her seat, intent on leading Lily to the counter. They had made it about halfway across the dining hall, and past a small handful of people Aegle's prior exuberance had apparently irritated, but Aegle scarcely had eyes for them. In fact, whether by pure obliviousness or willful ignorance, she managed to completely miss all the sharp looks thrown in hers and Lily's direction.

"Seems to me..." Aegle said finally, as she slipped into the line for the food counter, paying a glance back to her newest friend as she spoke. "That you gotta be pretty smart, huh?" Despite her words, it seemed less as though Aegle were trying to pay the faunus girl a compliment and more like she was asking a genuine question. As if all the evidence that Lily had provided to support such a conclusion still weren't sufficient for Aegle to be sure. The truth was that Aegle no more understood what it meant to be smart than she did what it meant to know a second language. She understood that they were things which were possible, but which she'd never personally experienced. It was that dearth of experience which made it so hard for Aegle to comprehend them. 
"Sorta funny, actually..." A slight grin stretched her lips as she spoke, though her subsequent turn back towards the food counter promptly concealed it from Lily's view. "You've only been in school for a week and y'already smarter than me."
Whatever bitterness might have been wrapped up in a comment like that, Aegle did not exhibit it. She remained happy, nearly serene, in her evident ignorance. It was pretty clear that a lack of intelligence was something she'd long ago resigned herself to.
"I'm gonna get somethin' with a whole lotta meat in it~"

Aegle didn't even wait to sit back down before she dug into her dinner, a prime rib cut of unappetizing quality, which she shoveled liberally into her mouth as she made her way back to their table. By the time she resumed her seat, she'd managed to get half way through the chalky potatoes and mushy steamed veggies, while less than a quarter of the gravy soaked piece of meat remained on her plate. She continued to display appetite in stark contrast to the evident quality of her meal, which scarcely touched the sides as it was shoveled into her mouth. She ate like a girl half starved, which was especially remarkable given the slightness of her frame. When she was done, which didn't take long at all, Aegle pushed her tray forward and sighed in evident satisfaction for a job well done.
"Needed that..." She remarked shortly, as she wiped the gravy off her lips and cheeks with the cuff of her hoodie's sleeve.

Aegle grinned broadly and without self consciousness, her face a beacon of confidence and self assurance.
"Nah, maybe I'd do a little better if I could study extra quickly..." She allowed reluctantly, but even her usually confident tone rang doubtful of the prospect. She had certain tricks up her sleeve as well, where studying and training were concerned, and it was thanks to her intimate familiarity with those tricks that she was so well acquainted with her limitations where studying was concerned. She'd never been a stellar student, but she'd always been a determined one, and that determination had afforded her middling to above average performance at best. Furthermore, there were simply things she couldn't wrap her head around, no matter how many times she drilled them into her head. In academia, just as in everything else, there were simply things Aegle could not do, and she knew it.

Her grin redoubled when Lily reminded her that they were supposed to have a bit of a sparring match after supper. She'd nearly forgotten all about that agreement. Slapping her stomach through her hoodie, the orange combed girl stood suddenly from her seat.
"Well lets go then~" She told the faunus at her side, her eyes sparkling with all their usual energy and intensity. Once again, her loud voice drew looks, though there were much fewer this time. It seemed that some of the diners were growing used to her frequent outbursts. Moving indelicately around the benches and tables that filled the cafeteria, Aegle loped eagerly for the door with her usual controlled limp. She put her shoulder into the door and forced it open for herself an Lily, whom she beckoned on eagerly. 

Once outside, Aegle's pace hastened. She wasn't moving slowly before, but she was nearly running once she got into the openness of the Vytal courtyard.
"I can't wait to see whatcha can do!" She told Lily over her shoulder, flashing the faunus a bright smile. "You gotta be wicked fast when ya fight huh? I hope you won't hold back!" This last bit was said with a surprising degree of sincerity, as close to an instruction as it could get without being a full out order. It was almost as though Aegle was used to people going easy on her.

She broke onto the training field at nearly a full sprint, heedless of what that might do to her stamina in the upcoming match. A few others already using the fields various facilities regarded her with passing interest, eyes drawn by Aegle's bright clothes and hair, but none made anything of it. No doubt most were well used to seeing fellow students rushing around the training fields. That would likely change once their match started however; If there was one thing that united all huntresses and huntsman, it was love of a good fight.
"Over here!" Aegle called to Lily, staking out a spot near the edge of the training fields, with a wolfish grin on her lips and an excited twinkle in her eyes. As she waved the faunus girl over with one hand, she reached the other down the back of her hoodie and dialed up her brace. Almost immediately, her back straightened, some of the hunch bled from her shoulders and her legs straightened, adding a few precious inches to her over all height. She remained small, however, and no amount of mechanical enhancement could fully excise the crook from her back or the stoop in her shoulders, but the bubbling enthusiasm that accompanied her transformation more than made up for it. 
"Come on, Come on! Let's do this!" She squawked, bracing whirring loudly and excitement threatening to overcome her. "Come on, Let's go! Lemme see whatcha got!"

There remained precious little which Aegle could do to get ready. Sure, she could have stretched a little, or maybe taken off her hoodie, but that just wasn't her style. No, whatever aches, pains or tears in her clothes incurred in the next couple of minutes, they would be Future Aegle's problem. In lieu of more sensible alternatives, she stared down the field at her friend, a savage grin stretched taught across her face. Her fingers curled into fists so tight that she popped every one of her knuckles, her shoulders rolled to the dissonant chorus of whirring motors, and her eyes seemed to blaze with a sudden intensity of which even her previous antics had not hinted.
"When this hits the ground, we'll begin." Lily called out to her and, though she might have nodded in acknowledgement, Aegle's eyes never left the dark haired faunus. Then, before she'd even had a chance to think about what was about to happen, not that she likely would have even if she'd had the time, the fight began. 

In a move that would hardly have been surprising to anyone who'd spoken to Aegle longer than five minutes, she broke into a full on sprint the very moment the fight began. While she was nowhere near as fast as Lily, not even her unaugmented speed, it was simply not within Aegle to wait for her opponent to come to her. She had nothing even resembling a plan for how she would actually fight Lily, but then she never really thought ahead during a fight anyway. If she found Lily's previous demonstrations of alacrity troubling, they instilled no reservations about meeting the dark haired girl in close quarters.

Then, as was often the case in combat, all supposition about what might happen or predictions of what could come became wholly academic as the two clashed. Aegle's eyes tracked the fleet footed faunus as best she was able, but she made no effort to guess what direction Lily would come from. Some huntsman had enough experience or enough quick wit to predict the actions of their opponents, but Aegle was not that kind of huntress. She had always found reacting to be more within her power than predicting. Thus, whatever conclusions her conscious mind might have drawn, they had little influence on the reactions of her crooked body. Such a shortcoming put her at a bit of a disadvantage where most huntsman, with their often ubiquitous knowledge of fighting styles and tactics, but it did afford her one small advantage. Namely that, without actually having expectations to subvert, it was shockingly difficult to actually surprise Aegle. Not even when, say, her opponent suddenly assumed supersonic speed. Sure, her lack of foresight meant the attack effortlessly broke through her guard, but Aegle was wholly waylaid by it.

The air exploded out of Aegle's lungs as Lily buried her glowing fist in her stomach with force sufficient to entirely arrest all forward momentum the small girl had. Aegle's instincts, tuned to defending against nominal threats, reeled against the shocking display of speed, but she did not allow Lily's sudden strike to rattle her. Instead, she retaliated with one of her own before she had even come off of the faunus girl's fist. Though the force of the blow had nearly uprooted her, Aegle's heavy shod feet spread out and anchored her minute weight. Simultaneously, she jabbed upward at Lily's face as she was forced back by the force of the taller girl's punch. In effect, though the punch was entirely uncontested, Aegle's counter attack was nearly immediate. It was just a jab, however, and a light one at that. All the momentum she might have fed into it had been stolen by Lily's own punch, and she was not yet anchored enough to throw a more effective blow. 



Aegle AP: 82/100

-3 Semblance upkeep
-15 Daily training

Things for Lily could not have been any different than they were for Aegle. Where her faunus friend might have been stricken with doubt and reluctance, the orange haired girl had no such compunctions. Much of this difference was due to the different ways the two of them viewed combat. Where Lily had only ever seen fighting as a means for defending herself and those she cared about, even proactively, Aegle had a much different opinion. To the pint sized pugilist, fighting wasn't just a means of defending herself or defeating her foes, but at a way of bettering herself. It was a crucible in which she might test her mettle and improve her skills. For someone whose fighting style was purely reactive, it was only in a fight that her abilities could truly be measured. Furthermore, Aegle had no reservations about striking her friend either, and she did not concern herself with whether or not her attacks left any lasting harm. Part of her reasoning was that she was simply well acquainted with the power of her own punches which, even with the brace's assistance, could not deliver the force most melee weapons were capable of. It stood to reason that, if Aegle could not strike so hard with her bare hands as even the lightest weapon, then huntsman who weathered blows from such weapons had naught to fear from her. Furthermore, Aegle simply believed in Lily. Lily was a huntress in training, just like she was, and thus should be fortified against the rigors of their chosen craft. Aegle didn't hold back because she knew that if she did, she was not only insulting Lily's abilities, but distrusting the faunus girl to defend herself. And if Lily couldn't defend herself, then it was only by facing Aegle's best that she would improve.

Thus, as Lily came back in to resume her onslaught, Aegle met her with every ounce of strength and ability her small frame possessed. For the faunus girl's first feint, Aegle stepped into the punch while maintaining an even footing, her defending arm upraised to shield her head. She fully meant to endure the hit Lily had leveled against her but was not unsettled when the punch failed to connect and lashed out, undaunted, with one of her own. It was a good punch too, which, unlike the punch preceding it, had been thrown while Aegle was properly grounded and rooted. It carried through with not only the strength of her arms, but that of her torso and legs as well, translating the full strength of her body into a single jab. It was well executed, plainly refined by judicious practice, and it would likely have landed with twice the force of her prior blow, had it connected. Alarms sounded in Aegle's mind when the attack she'd expected, the attack she'd moved to block and counter, failed to land, but she was already throwing her answering jab. Had she not been nearly so experienced in close quarters combat as she was, the feint might have succeeded in confounding her. As things stood, however, Aegle had simply been in far too many brawls for the unexpected to throw her off balance. Her hard punch, though it carried forth with all her body's meager strength, was immediately curbed before it could over extend. Then, banking the small amount of momentum she'd built up with her failed jab, Aegle rotated where she stood and shifted her leg clear of the perceived sweep. She did not try to get out of the way entirely, but rather repositioned so that Lily would catch only one leg with the sweep instead of two. In the same motion, she twisted around, dropped her guarding arm, and threw a hook after the spot where her instincts told her Lily's head would soon be. Had she not been played false a second time, then her fist would have taken her friend in the side of the head at the same instant that her leg was bashed aside by Lily's shin. Except Lily was not where she was expected, and the anticipated kick never landed. 

Once more, Aegle's training and instincts saved her from the ruin that a missed step or loss of balance would have ensured. When her fist failed to meet any resistance, and her leg remained unmolested, she simply continued as though nothing were amiss. Her eyes flashed out towards Lily, drawn by the faunus girl's inhumanly quick movements, just as she charged. Had Aegle been a more thoughtful combatant, she may have suspected the inevitable feint that would follow such an obvious charge. Aegle was not a thoughtful fighter though, and all she saw as Lily rushed her was an opportunity to strike an opponent who'd lowered all her defenses. Grinning her wide, toothy grin, Aegle swayed with momentum of her last whiffed punch and translated all she could into a quick and lunging jab, one which brought all the weight of her body to bear with it. Had Lily tried to punch Aegle in the stomach again, then her answering jab would have struck Lily full in the face before she ever got the chance. Though her reach was less than Lily's, it was plain that Aegle knew precisely how long it was, and precisely how quickly she could make use of it. None of it appeared conscious though; Aegle did not appear to even be aware of her present circumstances. Every move she took and correction she made came too quickly for conscious thought, and was executed with the precision of long and judicious practice. Of course, as should have been apparent to anyone who'd watch their fight from the beginning, Lily was not rushing in for another running body blow, and she was not there to receive Aegle's lunging jab when it was thrown. She watched, helpless in her commitment to her attack, as Lily sailed unmolested over her head, with grace and speed nearly too fast for Aegle's emerald eyes. 

Once more, alarm bells sounded for Aegle Vitus, whose instincts and training told her that there was nothing quite so dangerous as an unseen foe. She pulled herself forward with the conclusion of her jab with all the finesse she'd shown before. She was strangely mindful of over-extension, for someone who plainly favored attacks over defense. Having no sooner reanchored herself at the conclusion of her lunge, did Aegle begin to turn to meet whatever attack Lily might throw at her unguarded back. This too, was an action undertaken without the meddling of conscious thought, a move performed through sheer instinct and conditioned response. Also as the result of trained reaction, Aegle raised an arm to protect her head as she turned, and was thus unprepared for the much lower punch Lily had thrown. Pain coruscated up from Aegle's ribs, as electric as lightning, where Lily's punch landed, thrown off from its course with her spine by the smaller girl's quick turn. Aegle grunted, her full lungs abruptly emptied by the force of the blow, right before the tension in her chest conspired with the savage impact to do her an even greater mischief. Fortunately, Aegle's lungs were empty and she had not the air to cry out in shock and pain, and all that heralded the breaking of her rib was a sharp and meaty snap. Still turning, even as Lily's fist found its mark, Aegle brought her own to bear a punch of her own. With the hand that had not risen in defense of her vulnerable head, Aegle scythed the air with a savage sweeping hook. It was aimed lower than her previous punches, intended not for Lily's head, but for her core, which was the most easily struck target given the haste of the blow. And even as Aegle's rib broke and pay flashed briefly across her countenance, long hours of practice and refinement still translated all the momentum of her turn into the force of her punch. Like the jab with which she had first struck Lily, it was nearly immediate in answer of the faunus girl's own attack, but unlike the jab, it was considerably stronger.

Strangely, as Lily's punch had landed, it had met only the most cursory of resistance from Aegle's aura, much like the gut punch which had preceded it. Though whether Lily would understand the portent of such an oddity while under fire was dubious at best.