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Part 1: www.deviantart.com/tv225/art/R…

One…Two.” Ilia’s voice cuts through Ruby’s shock as the Chameleon Faunus rests in a neutral corner, counting her out. “Three… Four.” That smirk remained on Ilia’s face as her gray eyes watched the huffing Rose on all fours, with small red droplets staining the canvas. “There’s no way she can get up from that liver shot.” As the Faunus boxer arrogantly thinks she won this match, the huffing Rose grabs onto her messy mouthguard before slowly rising from the canvas.

“Five…Six.” But that confidence briefly fades upon seeing Ruby rising from the canvas. "What? She’s getting up?" A surprised Ilia asked herself while continuing the count. And on the count of seven, Ruby beats the count as she stands on her booted feet before giving her mouth protection a shake. After the salvia gets shaken off, the young Rose wipes her mouth with her left, staining the sweaty skin with a faint bloody smear.

Ilia’s gray eyes looked at what her black-gloved fists did to the young Rose’s body and face. Her human rival’s bruised cheeks look slightly puffed while a constellation of bruises marked her sweaty midsection. And the Faunus boxer spots red as the crimson liquid lightly leaks from Ruby’s cut lip. But, despite having a bleeping lip, Ruby shoves the mouth protection back on before tapping her gloves. “I’m good.”

Ilia’s slight surprise changes into a focused expression as she pounds her black leather gauntlets before marching toward Ruby. "Tich looks like I need to knock her down again." With that thought, the Chameleon Faunus resumes her assault with a 1-2 and a right hook combination aimed toward Ruby's head. And the young Rose quickly raised her defenses, protecting her bruised face from the black leather onslaught!

As sweat gets swatted off the human’s increasingly bruised forearms, Ruby slowly gives ground to the attacking Chameleon Faunus. With every step back Ruby makes, Ilia step forward with another punch at the human’s guard, gradually breaking through those defenses. Realizing that Ilia will soon scatter her guard, Ruby suddenly jumps back from the Chameleon Faunus, getting closer to the ropes!

A smirk grew on Ilia’s lightly bruised face as she leaps toward the young Rose with a left hook toward her rival’s bruised gut. But the smirking Faunus feinted the left to trick Ruby into eating a right swing to her face! And the human girl almost bought into the trick as she instinctively lowered her gloves to guard her belly, only for her silver eyes to upon seeing the actual attack coming! But as the speeding black glove gets dangerously close to nailing Ruby’s swollen left cheek!

PING!

Whoosh!

A blast of air struck the young Rose’s face as that onyx-colored missile stopped mere centimeters away from its target! Still, Ruby’s silver eyes widened as she spotted a slightly disappointed scowl on Ilia’s face. But it quickly changes into a confident smirk as the Chameleon Faunus taps one of the stunned Rose’s gloves before walking away. The parting Ilia caught a glimpse of Ruby’s shaken face as the young human slowly walked to the opposite corner.

Once again, both boxers received their stools before sitting upon them in the corners. While spatting the black mouthguard into a gloved hand, Ilia watches the panting Ruby doing the same at the opposing side. “Heh, Ruby should have nothing left in the tank after that knock down.” The watching Faunus gets slightly arrogant while resting her sweaty arms on the middle ropes in her corner.

In stark contrast, Ilia sees a huffing Ruby placing those crimson mitts on her lap, seemingly trying to conserve energy. “Want to throw in the towel?” Ilia cannot help but tauntingly ask her human opponent, with that arrogance taking over. “Huff… N-No.” Despite getting her face and belly pounded last round, Ruby defiantly stared at Ilia. Soon that arrogant smirk on Ilia’s face shifts into a frown as she slowly rises from the stool.

Ilia sees Ruby mirroring her action, albeit huffing more before shaking the red mouthpiece. With a firm shake, the frowning Faunus cleans her oral guard before shoving it into place. After the two boxers don their mouth protection, they reformed into their respective stances. Ilia’s gray eyes focused on her human rival’s bleeding lip before tightening her gloves. “Time to end this.”

PING!

And with that thought in Ilia’s mind, the bell rang, compelling both boxers to resume boxing. Unlike the initial quick actions of the last two rounds, Ilia and Ruby make their way slower this time. But Ilia wasted no time thrusting a 1-2 at Ruby’s face once near the ring’s center. “Ngh!” Although her black leather spatter sweat from the human’s arms, Ilia hears Ruby grunting from the blocked hits.

Ilia’s eyes narrowed while flicking and swinging her black leather toward Ruby’s way, trying to drive her human opponent into cornering herself. And to the aggressive Faunus’s joy, the besieged Rose starts to give ground, blocking the leather thrusts while dodging the swings! But with each attack weaved or guarded, Ruby got closer to the ropes, which drew a smirk on Ilia’s face!

And the glimpse of Ruby’s slightly panicking face behind those crimson mitts seals the deal to the Chameleon Faunus! “Gotcha!” Ilia, without hesitation, reels her right gloved fist back while swinging her left toward Ruby’s head. But as the young Rose jumped away from the Faunus’ left swing, Ilia pulled the rug under her rival as that glove proved a distraction! And Ruby paid the price for falling for a feint as the human yelped upon feeling the ropes pressing against her sweaty back!

With her prey trapped, a smirking Ilia lets loose that prepped right glove toward Ruby’s gut, sailing through the opening within the human’s guard! “OOUH!” Salvia spews from the human’s mouth as the smirking Faunus’ onyx leather sinks deep into her bruised belly! The sight of Ruby’s red mouthguard budging and the sweat splashing off her skin made Ilia satisfied. But before Ilia could capitalize on Ruby’s state, the huffing Rose suddenly grabbed onto her body in a clinch!

“Augh! Grr! Get off!” Frustration returns to Ilia as she tries to push her human opponent off her body, to continue trimming the Rose! “N-No!” A defiant Ruby huffingly shouts as she wrestles with the Chameleon Faunus, exchanging more sweat! But Ilia slowly gained the upper hand as she smacked Ruby’s unguarded side with her free left glove, spattering sweat off the grunting human’s body!

“Ah! Ugh!” Scarp yelps emit from Ruby’s mouth as Ilia’s left glove strikes loosen her desprate grip on the aggressive Faunus! And feeling the struggling Rose’s hold breaking, Ilia presses her gloves against Ruby, shoving her back onto the ropes! As sweat flew off Ruby’s body upon contact with the ropes, her silver eyes widened upon seeing a pair of black leather missiles speeding at her face!

“NGH! PFF!” The impacts of gloved fists on flesh and Ruby’s yelps ring out as Ilia smacked her cornered rival with a stiff 1-2, snapping her head back from each hit! Salvia flew from the human’s mouth while the red plastic protector budged, and a smirk reappeared on Ilia’s sweat-coated face! Soon arrogance returns to the smirking Faunus upon seeing exhaustion marking Ruby’s bruised face as the huffing human starts to fall toward her.

“She’s done. Finally-” But as an arrogant Ilia stepped back to let Ruby fall front first onto the canvas, shock marks her gray eyes! Instead of slamming face-first onto the unforgiving mat, a wincing Ruby suddenly stomped her left foot onto the canvas while drawing her left gloved fist back! Time seemed to slow down in the ring as Ruby shifted her gaze toward Ilia’s face while swinging her left crimson fist! Tried but determined silver met shocked gray as Ilia stood helpless as that scarlet leather crashed with all its might against her jaw!

BAM!!

“GUAH!” And Ilia’s head snapped upward as a shockwave rippled across her face, spattering that sweat coat off the skin! A small stream of salvia shoot from the Chameleon Faunus’s mouth, while her black mouthguard almost got dislodged from the impact! Soon Ilia began to stagger away from the young Rose, struggling to regain some semblance of focus! “OOF!” But a speeding red glove blasts the Chameleon Faunus’s midsection, catapulting more sweat off her body!

Huffing and puffing, Ruby pressed that gloved fist against Ilia’s belly, almost knocking out her Faunus opponent’s oral protector! But ‘almost’ did not cut it for the human boxer as she pulled that glove out from Ilia’s stricken gut, gaining enough space to swing a left hook at her face! Ilia’s dazed gray eyes barely caught her red-hued reflection on the speeding glove’s leather before it detonated against her cheek!

“PAAAAAH!!” And that hook sent Ilia’s mouthguard flying as the red glove caved her cheek! Another shockwave rippled across the Chameleon Faunus’ bruised face, spraying saliva and sweat off the skin! Then a sharp stinging pain pieces the hurting Ilia as she dove down sideway onto the canvas with a hefty thud! “Augh!” A pained yelp escaped Ilia’s lip as she hit the mat before feeling something warm leaking from her lip.

And when her tongue naturally rubs against that leakage, Ilia’s dazed eyes widen: Ruby just got payback for that last round cut she gave her on the lip! Soon, the downed Faunus heard staggered footsteps before barely seeing Ruby struggling to remain afoot while heading to a corner! That miraculous comeback from the boxing Rose came with a hefty price as she crashed and gripped onto the corner post!

"Huff…Huff…One…Two." But despite the exhaustion, Ruby did start the count between heavily breathing. Hearing the young Rose’s slow and huffing countdown, Ilia sluggishly shifted onto her front on the canvas. “G-got to… Get up!” Ilia’s forehead rested against the mat before slowly pushing herself up with her gloved hands as her human opponent continued the count. “Huff… Three… Huff… Four.”

And the clock ticking against her, the huffing Faunus got onto all fours, with sweat particles dripping off her body. “Five…Huff.” Ilia slowly shifted her booted right foot onto the canvas while resting on her left knee. “Six.” The Faunus boxer gritted her teeth while slowly lifting herself off the mat, beating the count at seven. “Huff…Huff. I’m up.” Upon standing on shaky footing, Ilia panted while slowly wiping the blood from her lip.

While smearing her right glove, the Chameleon Faunus’ tired eyes spot Ruby slowly lifting her crimson gloves. “N-no head shots…?” The human’s question made Ilia pause slightly, with her gray eyes slightly widening. “W-why?” Ilia cannot help but ask the sweaty and exhausted Rose while sluggishly lifting her onyx-colored mitts. “Huff… Your mouthguard.” And Ruby’s answer snapped the Faunus boxer back into reality as her gray eyes shifted to the discarded messy mouthguard on the canvas.

“Oh…I can get-” But the moment Ilia tried to reach down to grab the black plastic, her legs soon slightly buckled, further giving the Faunus another reality check. “...N-nevermind.” Accepting defeat, Ilia muttered while trying to form a semi-decent guard, which a concerned and huffing Ruby mirrored her action. Slowly, the exhausted boxers approach each other, sweat dripping onto the stained canvas beneath them.

Once near the ring's center, Ruby and Ilia began sluggishly circling each other, locking tired eyes. Gray met silver again as the two spent boxers waited for the other to reignite hostilities. And Ruby took the initiative with a staggered step followed by a sluggish left hook at Ilia’s battered gut! "Oof!" Despite its sloppy form, the young Rose’s glove easily bypassed Ilia’s poor excuse of a guard, splattering sweat upon impact!

And the Chameleon Faunus’ body hunched over Ruby’s left arm, coughing from the scarlet glove grinding her midsection! The hurting Ilia quickly grabbed Ruby in a messy clinch, forcing a yelp from her human rival! Upon the Faunus boxer crashing onto her, Ruby staggers backward, with Ilia worsening their footing! But miraculously, the young Rose barely manages to restabilize her footing, preventing herself and Ilia from crashing onto the canvas!

“Huff…Huff…Ilia?” The Faunus boxer heard Ruby’s tired question while still holding onto her sweat-coated frame. “Y-yeah?” After the confused Ilia asked her human rival, she received a follow-up question that caught her off guard. “D-did you…Not hold back?” Everything seemed to stop for Ilia as her exhausted mind tried to form some kind of answer. One side wanted her to lie and tell Ruby she went easy on the human, breaking her human rival’s spirit.

But the other compelled the Chameleon Faunus to answer truthfully toward her human opponent. “N-no…I gave my best with you.” And upon telling Ruby her truthful answer, Ilia heard her let out a thankful sigh before feeling a gloved hand patting her sweaty back. “T-thank you.” Those two words brought something within Ilia that she would never expect or dream of hearing from a human.

PING! PING! PING!

Three sharp bell rings shook both boxers, forcing them to clinch slightly tighter, which would make an amusing picture if people were present. And the scales on Ilia’s skin turned a shade of pink with the close contact with Ruby’s body, further embarrassing the Chameleon Faunus. Plus, the exhaustion that both fighters left them little choice unless they wanted to collapse onto the mat. After what seemed like an hour lapsed for Ilia and Ruby, the Faunus boxer broke the silence. “Um…Ruby?”

“...Yeah, Ilia?” Hearing Ruby’s response, Ilia turned toward the human’s face, locking eye contact again. “...Your- No…Our friend, Blake, is right that they’re humans who don’t view us as animals but as equals.” As she spoke, the Faunus boxer caught Ruby’s expression shifted from observant to surprised. “And…You’re a tricky but very skilled boxer, Ruby.” The Chameleon Faunus admitted to the surprised human, who quickly grew a cheery albeit tired smile.

“T-thanks, Ilia…Heh, good thing you didn’t fight me back when I was starting…It would just be a cakewalk for you.” Ruby’s confession and embarrassed look did draw curiosity from the Faunus boxer, who instinctively asked. “Why is that?” And Ilia’s question made a slight blush grow on Ruby’s slightly puffed cheeks as the human answered. “I…Lost all my first five matches.”

Ilia manages to resist the urge to suck air through her teeth upon hearing Ruby’s going through a terrible beginning record. “Well… If this could make you feel sort of better. I lost all of my first three matches in the ring.” The Chameleon Faunus admitted to the young Rose regarding her bad start at boxing, which made the human feel slightly better. “Heh, I guess it won’t be a cakewalk if we had fought as rookies.”

Soon, both young boxers share a chuckle before finally breaking the clinch as they regained enough stamina to stand. “Well, good match?” And Ruby lifted her left glove toward Ilia, giving the Chameleon Faunus a soft smile. Ilia looked at the scarlet glove, seeing her red-hued reflection on the leather surface before she returned the smile. “Good match.” And the smiling Faunus boxer pressed her right black-colored glove with the young Rose’s mitt, ending their bout on a high note.

Once they finished the post-bout tap, Ilia and Ruby slowly exited the ring, still having smiles marking their bruised faces. As they head off to the changing room, Ilia cannot help but remember asking herself why Blake got close to Ruby and the others. But after this match with the young Rose, the Chameleon Faunus got her answer, which put her mind at ease.

That the Cat Faunus’ human teammates, Ruby, Yang, and even Weiss, viewed her as an equal and a cherished friend.

-Story by: RexmonPrime
-Artwork by: Kainex19

mysticx1 Lazybuns Solfei RexmonPrime Patriot1776 EVBrock fab1rr Wulkoff deathZera alesiaboxing Arilynluna Alexander-Draws UCLing mewtwo3291 TheEarnestP HOSEN-HOSEN-HOCEN JessiBowen Jose-Ramiro AzraelWebster virus-g Kainex19

Description
Part 1: www.deviantart.com/tv225/art/R…

One…Two.” Ilia’s voice cuts through Ruby’s shock as the Chameleon Faunus rests in a neutral corner, counting her out. “Three… Four.” That smirk remained on Ilia’s face as her gray eyes watched the huffing Rose on all fours, with small red droplets staining the canvas. “There’s no way she can get up from that liver shot.” As the Faunus boxer arrogantly thinks she won this match, the huffing Rose grabs onto her messy mouthguard before slowly rising from the canvas.

“Five…Six.” But that confidence briefly fades upon seeing Ruby rising from the canvas. "What? She’s getting up?" A surprised Ilia asked herself while continuing the count. And on the count of seven, Ruby beats the count as she stands on her booted feet before giving her mouth protection a shake. After the salvia gets shaken off, the young Rose wipes her mouth with her left, staining the sweaty skin with a faint bloody smear.

Ilia’s gray eyes looked at what her black-gloved fists did to the young Rose’s body and face. Her human rival’s bruised cheeks look slightly puffed while a constellation of bruises marked her sweaty midsection. And the Faunus boxer spots red as the crimson liquid lightly leaks from Ruby’s cut lip. But, despite having a bleeping lip, Ruby shoves the mouth protection back on before tapping her gloves. “I’m good.”

Ilia’s slight surprise changes into a focused expression as she pounds her black leather gauntlets before marching toward Ruby. "Tich looks like I need to knock her down again." With that thought, the Chameleon Faunus resumes her assault with a 1-2 and a right hook combination aimed toward Ruby's head. And the young Rose quickly raised her defenses, protecting her bruised face from the black leather onslaught!

As sweat gets swatted off the human’s increasingly bruised forearms, Ruby slowly gives ground to the attacking Chameleon Faunus. With every step back Ruby makes, Ilia step forward with another punch at the human’s guard, gradually breaking through those defenses. Realizing that Ilia will soon scatter her guard, Ruby suddenly jumps back from the Chameleon Faunus, getting closer to the ropes!

A smirk grew on Ilia’s lightly bruised face as she leaps toward the young Rose with a left hook toward her rival’s bruised gut. But the smirking Faunus feinted the left to trick Ruby into eating a right swing to her face! And the human girl almost bought into the trick as she instinctively lowered her gloves to guard her belly, only for her silver eyes to upon seeing the actual attack coming! But as the speeding black glove gets dangerously close to nailing Ruby’s swollen left cheek!

PING!

Whoosh!

A blast of air struck the young Rose’s face as that onyx-colored missile stopped mere centimeters away from its target! Still, Ruby’s silver eyes widened as she spotted a slightly disappointed scowl on Ilia’s face. But it quickly changes into a confident smirk as the Chameleon Faunus taps one of the stunned Rose’s gloves before walking away. The parting Ilia caught a glimpse of Ruby’s shaken face as the young human slowly walked to the opposite corner.

Once again, both boxers received their stools before sitting upon them in the corners. While spatting the black mouthguard into a gloved hand, Ilia watches the panting Ruby doing the same at the opposing side. “Heh, Ruby should have nothing left in the tank after that knock down.” The watching Faunus gets slightly arrogant while resting her sweaty arms on the middle ropes in her corner.

In stark contrast, Ilia sees a huffing Ruby placing those crimson mitts on her lap, seemingly trying to conserve energy. “Want to throw in the towel?” Ilia cannot help but tauntingly ask her human opponent, with that arrogance taking over. “Huff… N-No.” Despite getting her face and belly pounded last round, Ruby defiantly stared at Ilia. Soon that arrogant smirk on Ilia’s face shifts into a frown as she slowly rises from the stool.

Ilia sees Ruby mirroring her action, albeit huffing more before shaking the red mouthpiece. With a firm shake, the frowning Faunus cleans her oral guard before shoving it into place. After the two boxers don their mouth protection, they reformed into their respective stances. Ilia’s gray eyes focused on her human rival’s bleeding lip before tightening her gloves. “Time to end this.”

PING!

And with that thought in Ilia’s mind, the bell rang, compelling both boxers to resume boxing. Unlike the initial quick actions of the last two rounds, Ilia and Ruby make their way slower this time. But Ilia wasted no time thrusting a 1-2 at Ruby’s face once near the ring’s center. “Ngh!” Although her black leather spatter sweat from the human’s arms, Ilia hears Ruby grunting from the blocked hits.

Ilia’s eyes narrowed while flicking and swinging her black leather toward Ruby’s way, trying to drive her human opponent into cornering herself. And to the aggressive Faunus’s joy, the besieged Rose starts to give ground, blocking the leather thrusts while dodging the swings! But with each attack weaved or guarded, Ruby got closer to the ropes, which drew a smirk on Ilia’s face!

And the glimpse of Ruby’s slightly panicking face behind those crimson mitts seals the deal to the Chameleon Faunus! “Gotcha!” Ilia, without hesitation, reels her right gloved fist back while swinging her left toward Ruby’s head. But as the young Rose jumped away from the Faunus’ left swing, Ilia pulled the rug under her rival as that glove proved a distraction! And Ruby paid the price for falling for a feint as the human yelped upon feeling the ropes pressing against her sweaty back!

With her prey trapped, a smirking Ilia lets loose that prepped right glove toward Ruby’s gut, sailing through the opening within the human’s guard! “OOUH!” Salvia spews from the human’s mouth as the smirking Faunus’ onyx leather sinks deep into her bruised belly! The sight of Ruby’s red mouthguard budging and the sweat splashing off her skin made Ilia satisfied. But before Ilia could capitalize on Ruby’s state, the huffing Rose suddenly grabbed onto her body in a clinch!

“Augh! Grr! Get off!” Frustration returns to Ilia as she tries to push her human opponent off her body, to continue trimming the Rose! “N-No!” A defiant Ruby huffingly shouts as she wrestles with the Chameleon Faunus, exchanging more sweat! But Ilia slowly gained the upper hand as she smacked Ruby’s unguarded side with her free left glove, spattering sweat off the grunting human’s body!

“Ah! Ugh!” Scarp yelps emit from Ruby’s mouth as Ilia’s left glove strikes loosen her desprate grip on the aggressive Faunus! And feeling the struggling Rose’s hold breaking, Ilia presses her gloves against Ruby, shoving her back onto the ropes! As sweat flew off Ruby’s body upon contact with the ropes, her silver eyes widened upon seeing a pair of black leather missiles speeding at her face!

“NGH! PFF!” The impacts of gloved fists on flesh and Ruby’s yelps ring out as Ilia smacked her cornered rival with a stiff 1-2, snapping her head back from each hit! Salvia flew from the human’s mouth while the red plastic protector budged, and a smirk reappeared on Ilia’s sweat-coated face! Soon arrogance returns to the smirking Faunus upon seeing exhaustion marking Ruby’s bruised face as the huffing human starts to fall toward her.

“She’s done. Finally-” But as an arrogant Ilia stepped back to let Ruby fall front first onto the canvas, shock marks her gray eyes! Instead of slamming face-first onto the unforgiving mat, a wincing Ruby suddenly stomped her left foot onto the canvas while drawing her left gloved fist back! Time seemed to slow down in the ring as Ruby shifted her gaze toward Ilia’s face while swinging her left crimson fist! Tried but determined silver met shocked gray as Ilia stood helpless as that scarlet leather crashed with all its might against her jaw!

BAM!!

“GUAH!” And Ilia’s head snapped upward as a shockwave rippled across her face, spattering that sweat coat off the skin! A small stream of salvia shoot from the Chameleon Faunus’s mouth, while her black mouthguard almost got dislodged from the impact! Soon Ilia began to stagger away from the young Rose, struggling to regain some semblance of focus! “OOF!” But a speeding red glove blasts the Chameleon Faunus’s midsection, catapulting more sweat off her body!

Huffing and puffing, Ruby pressed that gloved fist against Ilia’s belly, almost knocking out her Faunus opponent’s oral protector! But ‘almost’ did not cut it for the human boxer as she pulled that glove out from Ilia’s stricken gut, gaining enough space to swing a left hook at her face! Ilia’s dazed gray eyes barely caught her red-hued reflection on the speeding glove’s leather before it detonated against her cheek!

“PAAAAAH!!” And that hook sent Ilia’s mouthguard flying as the red glove caved her cheek! Another shockwave rippled across the Chameleon Faunus’ bruised face, spraying saliva and sweat off the skin! Then a sharp stinging pain pieces the hurting Ilia as she dove down sideway onto the canvas with a hefty thud! “Augh!” A pained yelp escaped Ilia’s lip as she hit the mat before feeling something warm leaking from her lip.

And when her tongue naturally rubs against that leakage, Ilia’s dazed eyes widen: Ruby just got payback for that last round cut she gave her on the lip! Soon, the downed Faunus heard staggered footsteps before barely seeing Ruby struggling to remain afoot while heading to a corner! That miraculous comeback from the boxing Rose came with a hefty price as she crashed and gripped onto the corner post!

"Huff…Huff…One…Two." But despite the exhaustion, Ruby did start the count between heavily breathing. Hearing the young Rose’s slow and huffing countdown, Ilia sluggishly shifted onto her front on the canvas. “G-got to… Get up!” Ilia’s forehead rested against the mat before slowly pushing herself up with her gloved hands as her human opponent continued the count. “Huff… Three… Huff… Four.”

And the clock ticking against her, the huffing Faunus got onto all fours, with sweat particles dripping off her body. “Five…Huff.” Ilia slowly shifted her booted right foot onto the canvas while resting on her left knee. “Six.” The Faunus boxer gritted her teeth while slowly lifting herself off the mat, beating the count at seven. “Huff…Huff. I’m up.” Upon standing on shaky footing, Ilia panted while slowly wiping the blood from her lip.

While smearing her right glove, the Chameleon Faunus’ tired eyes spot Ruby slowly lifting her crimson gloves. “N-no head shots…?” The human’s question made Ilia pause slightly, with her gray eyes slightly widening. “W-why?” Ilia cannot help but ask the sweaty and exhausted Rose while sluggishly lifting her onyx-colored mitts. “Huff… Your mouthguard.” And Ruby’s answer snapped the Faunus boxer back into reality as her gray eyes shifted to the discarded messy mouthguard on the canvas.

“Oh…I can get-” But the moment Ilia tried to reach down to grab the black plastic, her legs soon slightly buckled, further giving the Faunus another reality check. “...N-nevermind.” Accepting defeat, Ilia muttered while trying to form a semi-decent guard, which a concerned and huffing Ruby mirrored her action. Slowly, the exhausted boxers approach each other, sweat dripping onto the stained canvas beneath them.

Once near the ring's center, Ruby and Ilia began sluggishly circling each other, locking tired eyes. Gray met silver again as the two spent boxers waited for the other to reignite hostilities. And Ruby took the initiative with a staggered step followed by a sluggish left hook at Ilia’s battered gut! "Oof!" Despite its sloppy form, the young Rose’s glove easily bypassed Ilia’s poor excuse of a guard, splattering sweat upon impact!

And the Chameleon Faunus’ body hunched over Ruby’s left arm, coughing from the scarlet glove grinding her midsection! The hurting Ilia quickly grabbed Ruby in a messy clinch, forcing a yelp from her human rival! Upon the Faunus boxer crashing onto her, Ruby staggers backward, with Ilia worsening their footing! But miraculously, the young Rose barely manages to restabilize her footing, preventing herself and Ilia from crashing onto the canvas!

“Huff…Huff…Ilia?” The Faunus boxer heard Ruby’s tired question while still holding onto her sweat-coated frame. “Y-yeah?” After the confused Ilia asked her human rival, she received a follow-up question that caught her off guard. “D-did you…Not hold back?” Everything seemed to stop for Ilia as her exhausted mind tried to form some kind of answer. One side wanted her to lie and tell Ruby she went easy on the human, breaking her human rival’s spirit.

But the other compelled the Chameleon Faunus to answer truthfully toward her human opponent. “N-no…I gave my best with you.” And upon telling Ruby her truthful answer, Ilia heard her let out a thankful sigh before feeling a gloved hand patting her sweaty back. “T-thank you.” Those two words brought something within Ilia that she would never expect or dream of hearing from a human.

PING! PING! PING!

Three sharp bell rings shook both boxers, forcing them to clinch slightly tighter, which would make an amusing picture if people were present. And the scales on Ilia’s skin turned a shade of pink with the close contact with Ruby’s body, further embarrassing the Chameleon Faunus. Plus, the exhaustion that both fighters left them little choice unless they wanted to collapse onto the mat. After what seemed like an hour lapsed for Ilia and Ruby, the Faunus boxer broke the silence. “Um…Ruby?”

“...Yeah, Ilia?” Hearing Ruby’s response, Ilia turned toward the human’s face, locking eye contact again. “...Your- No…Our friend, Blake, is right that they’re humans who don’t view us as animals but as equals.” As she spoke, the Faunus boxer caught Ruby’s expression shifted from observant to surprised. “And…You’re a tricky but very skilled boxer, Ruby.” The Chameleon Faunus admitted to the surprised human, who quickly grew a cheery albeit tired smile.

“T-thanks, Ilia…Heh, good thing you didn’t fight me back when I was starting…It would just be a cakewalk for you.” Ruby’s confession and embarrassed look did draw curiosity from the Faunus boxer, who instinctively asked. “Why is that?” And Ilia’s question made a slight blush grow on Ruby’s slightly puffed cheeks as the human answered. “I…Lost all my first five matches.”

Ilia manages to resist the urge to suck air through her teeth upon hearing Ruby’s going through a terrible beginning record. “Well… If this could make you feel sort of better. I lost all of my first three matches in the ring.” The Chameleon Faunus admitted to the young Rose regarding her bad start at boxing, which made the human feel slightly better. “Heh, I guess it won’t be a cakewalk if we had fought as rookies.”

Soon, both young boxers share a chuckle before finally breaking the clinch as they regained enough stamina to stand. “Well, good match?” And Ruby lifted her left glove toward Ilia, giving the Chameleon Faunus a soft smile. Ilia looked at the scarlet glove, seeing her red-hued reflection on the leather surface before she returned the smile. “Good match.” And the smiling Faunus boxer pressed her right black-colored glove with the young Rose’s mitt, ending their bout on a high note.

Once they finished the post-bout tap, Ilia and Ruby slowly exited the ring, still having smiles marking their bruised faces. As they head off to the changing room, Ilia cannot help but remember asking herself why Blake got close to Ruby and the others. But after this match with the young Rose, the Chameleon Faunus got her answer, which put her mind at ease.

That the Cat Faunus’ human teammates, Ruby, Yang, and even Weiss, viewed her as an equal and a cherished friend.

-Story by: RexmonPrime
-Artwork by: Kainex19

mysticx1 Lazybuns Solfei RexmonPrime Patriot1776 EVBrock fab1rr Wulkoff deathZera alesiaboxing Arilynluna Alexander-Draws UCLing mewtwo3291 TheEarnestP HOSEN-HOSEN-HOCEN JessiBowen Jose-Ramiro AzraelWebster virus-g Kainex19