Casting Call

Sitting on their beds, Raishun and Gil bounced ideas off each other for the event they were planning. They had a very light outline finished, no thanks to Gil's insistence that they not involve the girls in it. Raishun couldn't blame him. He wasn't sure how Laura would react, but he knew Alisa would be pining for ways to make money off them.

"Okay, so we know there'll be two acts, a main one, and a smaller supporting one running at the same time right?" Raishun asked, blocking the rays of the midday sun with a hand. "I'm guessing I'll be the smaller act right?"

"That's right." Gil confirmed, pulling his purple hat down low over his face. "But you'll be the main act for this. I'll be providing back up using my song and dance."

"What?" The blue-haired boy stared at his teammate in shock, "I can kinda sing and dance, but I've got nothing on you mister idol."

"If I were to go up on stage as the main act, then Laura would stay home. If she see's I'm not here, she'll grill me on the show." The man in purple scratched his chin in thought, "But if we have you be the main show, then there's a chance she might go watch you. If that happens, then no one'll bat an eye if I don't show."

"But won't Laura recognize it's you singing? Besides we don't have the time for me to master singing and dancing at the same time." Raishun shot back, his stomach knotting with worry.

"I use that disguise and alter my voice to make sure she doesn't find out remember." Gesturing to his throat, Gil squeezed his throat, and his following words came out several octaves higher than usual. "You won't be dancing or singing, that'd be a disaster. You'll be fighting in an exhibition match."

He let go of his throat and gestured towards the bag containing his outfit. "You see, my manager signed a deal with the kingdom to have me draw in a big crowd for the Vytal Festival. A fight involving a Legion, with backup music from Beat? That's bringing in crowds for sure."

"I suppose I can help you with that." Raishun scratched at his cheek, suddenly self-conscious at the prospect of attending. "Who am I fighting?

"Eric obviously. He's the strongest fighter this year next to Pyrrha. Even then people still debate who would win."

"Seriously? I was hoping we could let bygone be bygones and all that." His head started to ache as if remembering the finishing blow he'd received from the sickle-wielding Huntsmen. "But who knows, maybe it'll help show Laura that I'm reliable now. I'd like to help close the gap between us."

"Now you're getting it!" Gil laughed, "Do a good job, and I'll split some of the proceeds with you to spend with that girl you're always texting. Even better, invite her too while your at it."

"Gil you're a genius!" The Legion rose to his feet and started towards the door, "I'll be back. I've got a fight to secure!"

Gilgamesh waved as Raishun left the dorm. He patiently waited until he was confident the Legion was gone before opening his scroll and typing into the search bar. Leaning back on his pillow, his features hardened as he read what was on the screen. "You poke around my family; I'll poke around yours Miss Blake Belladonna."

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It took Raishun more than an hour to find Team EMLD's dorm room. As he asked around for directions, students were more than happy to share rumors on the mysterious Huntsmen. According to the students, he had never rejected an offer to fight, and every fight ended in his victory. He was rarely seen outside of classes. It was so rare to see him that some theorized Eric was a vampire.

Standing before the doorway to Eric's dorm, Raishun had just raised his hand to knock when the sound of the lock disengaging surprised him. Stepping back, he watched as a girl dashed out of the door and shut it behind in her in an instant. Her long curly turquoise hair flew in a dishelmed mess down to her shoulders, and her wide pink eyes stared at him in recognition.

"Hey, you're that Legion Eric fought a while back." She said in a high-pitched voice. "I'm not letting you pick a fight with him again! Not today, no thank you! Go back to your dorm!" Her pink eyes narrowed as she barked her orders.

"Move aside Marissa." A deep familiar voice boomed from behind the door. It slid open with a hiss to reveal Eric's tall form. He easily stood a few inches taller than Raishun and used that trait to look down on the Legion condescendingly. "Oh it's you."

"Yeah. You miss me?" Raishun asked with a confident grin. Eric looked much the same as he had remembered, black trench coat and hood low over his face. But at the moment, he seemed exhausted. There were dark shadows underneath his eyes, and his usual pearl skin was instead a sickly pale color. Tufts of black hair stuck out from his hood in all directions, slightly obscuring his orange eyes.

"Not really. I heard you couldn't stand the shame of losing to me and ran away with your tail between your legs." He said, stepping past Marissa to stand in front of the Legion.

"Please. I just went on tenure." Raishun shot back sarcastically, his eyes looking the black-clad boy over. "You aren't looking so hot on the other hand. Maybe I'll challenge you again some other time. I don't want to be known as the guy who beat Eric when he was weak- Oh wait! You pretty much did that to me didn't you?" Those last words were laced with venom as he stood on his toes to try and match Eric's level. "You must feel high and mighty, beating a newly awakened Legion with no control over his powers."

Eric's eyes narrowed, "You want a rematch, you've got one!" He growled as he menacingly cracked his knuckles. "I won't hear any complaints when you lose right? In fact, I'll even stick you in the infirmary for an extra day or two so the loss can sink in-"

"ERIC!"

Marissa stepped in between the two Huntsmen, eyes ablaze with fury.

"NO FIGHTING!" She said to both of them before turning her attention on her partner. "You're lucky you got away from Cardin's fight with only a few bruises! Just because you saw him bullying that Faunus girl and Jaune, doesn't mean you get to fight whenever you feel like it!" Every word she spoke was punctuated with a sharp poke into the taller boy's chest.

Sensing the turn in the conversation, Eric quickly clamped a hand down on Marissa's mouth to silence her. "Marissa! Don't talk about those things in front of others!"

The turquoise-haired Huntress brimmed with anger at being silenced and bit down on his hand, forcing him to let her go with a wince. This time her anger was directed towards Raishun, who started to slowly back away.

"You! I don't care if you want a rematch, don't go challenging my partner to suit your needs. Yeah he can be a bit scary at times, but he's got a good heart. Cardin, Skye, everyone he's fought deserved to be put in the infirmary if you ask me! So good day to you!"

She grabbed Eric by the sleeve and tried to pull him back inside, but he stayed rooted in place. His orange eyes locked with Raishun's.

"She doesn't speak for me. Tell me when we're doing this so I can pick out a good outfit." He snarled.

"EXCUSE ME!"

Eric lurched towards the ground as Marissa pulled him to her level by the collar of his jacket.

"I did not spend the past 4 weeks bandaging your wounds for you to ignore my opinion!" She roared.

As she began berating her partner, Raishun couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards the mysterious Huntsmen. Eric simply stared into space; his eyes glazed over with a stoic expression as she verbally tore into him.

[In a way, they kinda remind me of Castor and Yona. Only with a lot more yelling…]

"The fight's in a few weeks. It'll be a big exhibition match with Beat performing for the fight." He explained, silently hoping the information wouldn't make him Marissa's next target.

To his surprise, Marissa stopped speaking and turned to look at him with a surprised expression.

"Did you say Beat?" She said, in a voice that was almost a whisper.

"Yeah. He wanted some Huntsmen to put on a show to draw in tourists for the Vytal Festival." He explained, "Why?"

Pressing a hand to her chin, Marissa thought for a moment. She looked from Eric to Raishun, then back to Eric. "You're fighting!" She ordered with a nod of her head. "This is a once in a lifetime chance and we're not gonna miss out on it!"

Before Eric could protest, she began to drag him back into the dorm room. "Come on let's get your wounds bandaged up. You're not embarrassing us in front of Beat!"

"Marissa! Come on get off me! I can take care of myself-"

Eric's words were cut off as the door slid shut. There was the sound of struggling from behind the door, quickly followed by a defeated groan. Raishun suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie with the man. [Looks like we've both got… special teams.]