Darkness and Light {Subplot for Pearl :: Hyght/Pearl/Semi-Open Please ask to Join}

"It's been damn near a month and Mason still hasn't contacted me." Hyght complained to himself as the edge of his gladius styled sword connected with the thick bark of the tree he stood before. The former baker swung his sword over and over at the tree, each impact tore a small chunk from its surface. He wasn't sure how long he'd been at it now. Minutes? A hour or more? He didn't know and part of him didn't care, he'd spent so much time bottling up what he'd been feeling lately that the simple act of carving up this tree seemed to calm the turmoil that raged on within him.

It have been weeks since he woke up screaming in the middle of class. While the vivid imagery of the dream had dulled he still woke every so often in a start, his mouth stretched open in a soundless scream. Hyght wasn't one to find his nightmares overly terrifying, but for whatever the reason, this dream about a Unique Beowolf had scared him to a new level. There was no explanation that Hyght could fathom for it. He'd never fought a Grimm or been in any situation that could have caused his death. Aside from the event in the Faunus restaurant with Grics and the attack on Professor Davis, Hyght had been in no danger. However, this dream, his reactions, his unwillingness to go back to sleep, all of it showed signs of possible PTSD.

When the idea that it could be Post Traumatic Stress came into his thoughts Hyght figured he was just being ridiculous. After all, he's never seen combat, except for the attack on Davis. Hyght had been scared but he had no idea why that event didn't leave him in a more terrified state than the nightmare he had.

"It was just a dream!" Hyght hissed, bark clipping the rims of his half-moon glasses. "It wasn't real!" The thunk of his sword began to resonate harder in his arm as the blows increased in strength. The onslaught on the tree abruptly ended when Hyght swung too hard and struck the tree with a weak grip. His gladius recoiled harshly and Hyght found himself looking down at his raw palm. The blood of torn blisters and split skin etched out the creases in his hand. You aren't meant to be a Hunter. Dream Mason's voice echoed back to him.

Silence overtook the young man and he leaned his head against the tree for a moment, silent tears welled in the pits of his eyes. "I don't understand..." He choked out, clutching at the gouges in the tree's hide. He was so confused, so unsure of what was going on and why he couldn't forget the dream that he felt powerless. He had come to Syne to help people, yet he couldn't even help himself. The cliche hero story side plot wasn't lost on the young man. After a subjective lifetime Hyght retrieved his sword and made his way for a nearby lake. He didn't want to go back to his room yet, let alone face Gricelda as she would no doubt rip into him about something. The thought of his wolf faunus roommate set his blood to boil but when he arrived at the lake his attention was far from his roommate.

There was a cloak of some green color Hyght wasn't concerned with knowing that was connected to someone. It took half of a breath before it clicked. "Ah!" He exclaimed, his realization startling him. The young man slipped from his gear with the grace of well practiced movements, his clothes followed, his boxers being all that remained. Hyght dove gracelessly into the water. The lake wasn't very deep but its bed was uneven the landing Hyght had made sent pain through his left leg. He ignored it and swam out to the cloaked person. Don't be dead. Don't be dead. Don't be bead. He found himself thinking frantically as he reached the still form.

It took a few minutes but they had eventually made it back to shore. Hyght had pulled the obviously unconscious form of a woman from the lake. He spent the next couple moments checking her breathing and pulse, mentally noting them and after confirming she was in fact unconscious he performed CPR.

He heard about it, I mean, who hadn't? Grimm attack in Bellmuse... Everyone knew it was possible, yet they always had the optimistic hope that it wouldn't ever happen to them. The real threat was out there, the fact that it happened was just... An unfortunate event. Deep down, Zen chastised himself for not helping. There was no excuse for it, so he consistently beat himself up about it, after reading up on it with his scroll. Regrettably, there wasn't much he could do, because the situation had already occurred. That's why he found himself in the Skylight Woods. It started from the Training Arena, to the Finnek Forest, Bellmuse itself, and now ended in this new destination.

"Gah, Zen, a one man patrol? Not the brightest of ideas, but still... Guess this is what your impulse drives you to do." Now, the lion spoke to himself often. He self-reflected even during the heat of battle. While others would find that as an unhealthy method of dealing with the past, it worked differently for him. Zen found zen when he meditated on such things. How to cover up his weaknesses, how to strengthen his resolve. The typical cliche that some find in action shows or video games, were honest virtues he felt were actually important, which is why they were constantly written about. And this is why his impulse drove him to do what he did. Along the way, he scrapped with a couple of Grimm but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

The tall, stout, blonde lion carried himself strongly and had a firm foundation about himself. His steps covered a wide berth and yet, they remained gentle in a comforting type of way for the earth he walked on. After the woods it was to the beach and that'd conclude his patrol of most of Bellmuse. Thank the natural motion of tectonic plates that kept the place so small. Else he'd have to take each of his free days to explore a singular location.

While his feet hurt, he continued. That was natural considering he had been standing for the entirety of day anyways. While he walked, the armor he wore glistened lightly in the beams of sunlight that managed to strike through the trees. His sapphire eyes remained attentive to the world around him and that's when he managed to sniff out two scents. Their odors belonged to the school, yet he couldn't necessarily discern them  to the point of where he could place faces on them. One thing he could tell, however, was that a lion much like himself, was nearby. A human too. Curious as to what any of them would be doing out there, he quickened his pace to more of a brisk jog. "Faunus and human? Maybe secret lovers that wish to avoid discrimination or a heated argument between two races? Can't be too careful, besides the Grimm, we have each other to protect one another from..."

He resolved and eventually cut through all of the trees and found the sight. His eyes widened momentarily, when he saw a hunter who hovered over a drenched huntress. From where he saw it, there wasn't anything malicious going on, at least that's what Zen told himself. "Hey, is she okay!?"

His voice called out to the young man who performed CPR... In his boxers. The lion faunus quickly ran over to the both of them, but stood a good few feet away, to give the hopefully still breathing a woman the space to do so. Once he made it to them, he took a quick look around in case there was some form of perpetrator, or enemy that lied in wait for an ambush of sorts. After giving himself several confirmations, his stern gazed returned to the two. It wasn't directly aimed towards anyone in particular, except for the situation itself. "What's going on here, did she drown or something?" He asked, his voice raised just a bit out of concern for a fellow student.

Then again, maybe he should have directly confronted the young man who practically stood just as naked over the young woman, who he figured "drowned?" No, there was no time for blame or suspicions to be tossed around just yet. For all the lion knew, there was a reason why that ebony-haired male had himself in a position others would have strung him up by his neck for.

Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation is a skill Hyght had picked up soon after he decided to become a Huntsman. He looked up what he could for first aid skills and drilled himself on them before he left for the academy. Hyght wondered when it might come in handy but had never thought he'd use it so soon after getting to Syne. Let alone on an attractive girl whom also happened to be stark naked, save for that aforementioned green cloak.

Hyght wasn't sure how long he had been working, but by the time a new voice broke him from his trance, he was well out of breath and felt more weak than his fight with the tree earlier. The former baker panted heavily as he turned to face the owner of the new voice. The newcomer was a tall, heavy set man with a thick mane of blond hair and his strong jaw was lined with a well groomed beard. The newcomer sported a gauntlet on each arm and a curiass of red and gold over his chest. As the newcomer's lope devoured the distance between them, Hyght nodded and turned back to the unconscious girl, inhaled for another set of breaths.

The girl spat water into Hyght's mouth just as he began to breath air into her. Hyght reacted in a nonhuntsman like manner as he shrieked and drew back from the girl as he choked on the swapped water. He rocked back onto his butt and coughed violently until he get the water from his lungs. When he had composed himself into a nonhacking mess he noticed the girl's eyes were still shut. While he couldn't speak at the moment he cleared his throat to alert her to his presence.


(GAH! THis felt so rough for me. Sorry if it seems a but iffy. I'll make the net one better.)

Zen's suspicions were confirmed, the young lass had drowned but how did she end up in that situation to begin with? Naked, with only a cloak that soaked through and revealed that strength in her frame, she was a beauty to behold, but that was the least of Zen's concerns. His brow knitted further into a frown and cast a further gaze towards the hunter who proceeded with his CPR. The lion wondered about the actual usefulness of the procedure, yet wasn't going to argue anything of the sort when there was a life on the line. However, something rather comical happened.

The ebony haired young man who brandished a simple sword and shield, had some water shot right into his mouth, once the lioness had coughed up the bit in her lungs. That was a good sign. However, her savior had gagged and Zen cast a worried gaze over to him for a moment. That cleared throat after the fact showed the faunus that the human male was fine. He gave that a nod of his head, before his attention returned to the young woman. "If we leave her soaked like this, she'll catch cold. That's the last thing we need happening to her." His voice spoke up once more.

He knelt by the young woman and shamelessly pulled away her cloak. That thing was only going to aid in furthering a sickness if it stayed on her any longer. Once that was done, the lion quickly removed his own armor and beneath the plates of steel, he wore a lining that helped prevent getting chafed. That lining he relinquished from his body was used to dry the blonde's body off to a degree. When it was off, Zen showed that he wore normal clothes beneath, specifically a hunter green, collared shit and what may have been a pair of black jeans covered by his greaves. He was a relatively tall young man and built at that, so when he opened that shirt, draped it over the lass, and wrapped her in it, the article nearly covered her from the neck down. The exception being her thighs showed. Other than that, though, she was covered, thankfully. Zen himself was comfortable being in that undershirt, with the jeans and greaves.

Just from those fabrics alone any could see just how muscular the lion really was. Though, he personally felt as though he could have done way more better with how he worked out, others outside of his own personal opinions would say otherwise. Those green orbs of his had turned over to the lioness who continued to be unconscious. It wasn't necessarily the optimal situation to have her in, but better that than her being in the constant danger of drowning.

"What could have happened to a physically strong person like you, to end up literally washed up in a lake?" The hunter asked aloud and then turned his eyes over to the man who was hopefully no longer knocked on his ass. A big, warm smile was given to him. "And you, Mr. Hero, it was good you arrived here in time. Who knows how badly this would have turned out, if you hadn't shown up. Shall we get her back to the school?" His question came and Zen went right to getting his weapons back onto his hands. From there, he picked up the remaining pieces of his armor and motioned towards the bespectacled hunter, to tend to the young woman.

There's no real way someone can say they'd do something until the event happened. Demand would call for you to act or cower, those are your choices of action when something like this occurred. Hyght had grown up in the Briggs family, known in his town for being bakers and cooks. The Briggs did nothing more than the jobs they excelled at and as far as Hyght knew, he was the only member of his family to step away from the cutting board and whisk. Hyght had chosen to pick up a blade meant to cut something other than vegetables and edible meat. In his life before Syne academy, before Mason, before the nightmares and fear of sleep, Hyght had been just another baker and cook in a town that had nothing new from the Briggs. The thought had never come to his mind before he found himself hacking up water that a drowning girl had regurgitated into his mouth.

The scene that followed his hacking was one that made his tense muscles slacken into a relaxed state. The large blonde man stated the need to get the nearly drowned woman dry, which Hyght nodded his agreement and let him do as he wished. Hyght watched as the man removed his armor and the lining he had underneath. The lining was used to dry the girl off, with the girl drier than she had been, the man slipped from the shirt that laid beneath the lining and wrapped her in it. The green of the shirt was accented quite well by the gold of her hair. It was then that it had actually hit him; she was naked. He no longer had the busy work of CPR to distract him. In the absence of adrenaline and worry he found himself all too aware of the woman's form and his lack of clothing.

Hyght found himself quite conscious of his pale bare skin and the dark bruises that covered him. The former baker had bruises of various size and shape all over his sides and chest, his back however, was stark in contrast to the rest of him. From his spot on the earth he watched the large, towering man ask the woman a question before he turned his gaze to him. Hyght was referred to as Mr.Hero which seemed to cause a conflict of emotions in him. Embarrassment and pride as well was a nagging sense that the man was wrong in bestowing that title on him. However he felt, he didn't stop the man from using the aforementioned title. "I'm n-not." He stuttered and noticed the silver eyed gaze of the young woman shift to him and he suddenly felt far more awkward.

Social awkwardness wasn't something Hyght had to deal with often, what with being as social as he is, but there was something about the eyes of this woman that made him lose his footing. It annoyed him but it interested him far more than it annoyed it. Silver eyes. He noted, fascinated by them. All things around him seemed to fade into the background until he noticed she had moved closer toward him. If he had been any slower she would have been able to embrace him without him even realizing it. With a mental slap Hyght moved closer. "You sh-ouldn't try to do too- ah!" Hyght tried to get her to stop moving and rest but was caught off guard when she flung her arms around his large frame. Instinctively his arms snaked around her to prevent her from falling and all but lost his balance.

Despite his weariness in both body and mind the huntsman-in-training had saved himself and the woman a nasty tumble and felt his spine stiffen when her words reached his ear. Thank you. It was a common thing to be expected to hear when someone helped save a life but in the state of mind he had been in for the past few weeks he found himself weak at hearing those words. It took a few moments before he had been able to speak but he realized that the large man had mentioned something about getting the girl back to the school. "Yeah. She should be looked over by a professional." Hyght agreed calmly as he lowered the woman to the ground. "I'm Hyght." He announced and retreated from the duo a couple steps. "Just let me grab my clothes and I'll be right behind you."

Hyght nodded to them and jogged over to his clothes. It took him little time to slip back into all his gear and return to them. "I know I should have already asked this but, are you okay?"

(BOOM! So much freaking better! But yeah, sorry if you guys got confused but Hyght had stripped to his boxers before he jumped into the water.)

((Edited one of my previous posts, to reflect thoughts on a young man in his boxers, standing over a practically naked woman, and pressing his lips against her. Now to just tease the crap out of Hyght for the rest of the roleplay. Lol))

Zen had a rather stern gaze to his features suddenly. Both of them, this woman and that man... What happened to them? The woman's scars were akin to grimm injuries, but her body mass appeared to be entirely muscle. Not a single bit of fat on those bones and it was scary. Scary in the sense that something or someone did that to her. And for that bespectacled young man? Why was he so bruised up? Could they...? Could they have been from the attack on Bellmuse? Why were they here of all places? The stout, proud lion found more questions being raised than answered, but now wasn't the time. "Careful now, you don't want to push yourself Miss."

He cautioned but trusted the half naked male to care for her further. Hyght was his name, as he announced it before the other blonde was placed onto the ground yet again, and he went to retrieve the rest of his gear. "Hyght the Hero, who saved a drowning damsel, in naught but his boxers. Makes a good story, right?" Zen couldn't help it, honestly, he had to address the obvious elephant in the room and only did so to brighten up the mood. If in case these were hunters from that event and one even attempted suicide, then he had to do something in order to bring their spirits back up.

Taking the example the hunter showed, Zen removed his gauntlets momentarily and took his damp lining. It was placed back over his body, followed by his armor, then weapons. A bit uncomfortable, but the last thing he needed was to be surprised by any form of enemy and literally have his back stabbed, because his defenses were temporarily opened.

One thing to note, though, is how the mysterious lioness thanked the man, rather than crawl away and scream. Either she had severe case of Stockholm Syndrome, or that guy was truly her savior. A smile brandished itself upon his strong features and he nodded over to Hyght. "In all seriousness, good job. Before I forget, though, I'm Zen. Zen Capricorn." The faunus finally introduced himself and then turned his icy green orbs upon the silver-eyed, strength induced beauty. "So, Hyght, would you like to do the honors of carrying her? Just from the look of it, her legs are much too weak, as is her body, to do any form of physical activity. We need to get her back to the academy fast." He explained.

Hyght or Zen could have carried her, it wouldn't have mattered, but with how he worded his statement, the tall male insisted that the glasses wearing man do it. Why exactly? He was still on his personal mission and given that the Skylight Woods was his last destination, he could have easily seen to their escort and protection. After all, he was built for fighting and both of them appeared way too tired to do any fighting, if it came down to it. Essentially, Zen offered himself as their sword and shield for the time being.

The large man had said his name was Zen Capricorn. If he remembered right, a Capricorn was an old astrological sign, though to his knowledge not many people believed in Astrology anymore. The image of a creature with the upper half of its body as a goat and the lower portion was that of a fish, stood out in his mind. Hyght couldn't help but note the major obvious differences in the possible meaning of Zen's last name and his physical appearance. Though that was unimportant at the moment. Hyght mentally slapped himself and returned to the world around him. Zen had made light of the scene that had played out, once again referring to him as a Hero. Another wave of conflicted emotions crested and Hyght forced them away. He'd prefer not to be titled as such, it made him feel weird hearing that.

"Zen," Hyght said polietely as the large man finished slipping his gear into place on his person. "could you please not call me that? I appreciate it but it just doesn't feel right." Following his words Hyght watched as the nearly drowned woman attempted to stand once again, a strange look of determination and defiance flashed across her face as she battled against gravity and her own motor skills. Out of cautiousness and worry, Hyght took a step and stretched out his hand for her to use as a brace but whatever strength she had left vanished and her thin frame plummeted to the ground below. Hyght reacted too slow and only caught her hand but it shifted her body in a way that prevented a heavy blow to her head.

The following moments made Hyght's heart race, his adrenaline spike and his eyes wide. He was worried something far worse was wrong with her but he was no medical expert. With that in mind he took Zen's earlier question and ran over the immediate avenues of action he could think of. After about a minute or so he looked at Zen and gave a slight nod. "I'll carry her if you'll run guard for us." He said and knelt down by the unconscious girl. His eyes drew in the lines of muscles on her legs and Hyght looked away. With a few movements the former baker had slipped his green hoodie off and draped it over her legs then thought about it and shook his head. "That wouldn't work." He muttered and lifted his eyes back to Zen.

Zen was a large man, it was obvious, but there was something about him, the way he stood, the way he spoke that made Hyght think he was strong. His physical strength could be judged by his body but the large man, with the name Zen, looked to resemble a large body of water that was absolutely still. His name suddenly makes more sense now. Hyght thought. "Zen, can you help me lift her? I want to place her on my back and use the jacket as a second layer to keep her warm." Hyght also adjusted his shield so it hung against his chest. He finished readying himself for the extra weight and nodded. "Alright, load her up."

(OOC: No worries. Life happens, we get it.)