NF25/26

"Ah!" Cinder retracted her hand as if burned, and Myrtenaster fell to the floor in a sparkle of dust. It could have been an accident. She'd tried to be polite and return the weapon to her defeated foe, and as everyone knew - dust weapons could malfunction and the substance itself was volatile. A training accident that might put Weiss out of action for a few weeks would be a tragic accident, but just that.

Except that it wasn't an accident... for he saw the brief flash of golden light in her eyes.

The blade struck the floor and the dust ignited. Tip pointed towards Weiss, Cinder's shout of warning was cut off as a great roar of fire shot from the end of the weapon. Miss Goodwitch shouted a warning and reached for her crop. Winter scrambled for her weapon. Weiss' eyes grew wide.

He moved.

There was no interim moment. No progression from point A to point B. One second Weiss stared down an oncoming fireball, too drained to move and too low on aura to defend herself. The next, it exploded before her.

Heat rolled over him and around his arms, smoke curling from his clothing as he braced one leg and tried to push through it. Anyone else might have screamed but this was a fire he'd felt oh so many times before... it was her fire. He knew it better than the comforting touch of his own mother. The flames licked and lapped at his skin, but he grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut against the smouldering heat. Don't fail me now, you bastard, he screamed inside his head. Not now, not his aura, after it had let him down so many times.

I don't want to go back just yet. Let me have this, I beg of you!

Something ignited within him, and with a roar he threw his arms wide and broke through the fireball. Ash and embers rained down on either side of him, fluttering through the air like glowing, orange petals falling to the ground. A harsh pant escaped him as he caught himself before he fell. He looked down at his arms.

There was a receding white glow that shimmered across his skin. He lifted one hand before his face and slowly curled his fingers into a fist and then opened them again. His aura faded, but it had done enough. The burns were minor... burns that would have had any other in intensive care for weeks.

—NF25

[...]

"Hmmm…" Tsune poked at his skin, eyes flicking up occasionally to gauge his reaction. "Oh yes, this certainly looks painful… so very painful." She coughed when she noticed everyone staring at her. "Well, the burns look bad for the most part but I wouldn't call them overly serious. His aura seems to have prevented much of the initial damage; otherwise you'd be looking much worse than this."

It had flared up at the last second, he could remember that. He wouldn't call it lucky, however, if only because it was supposed to be active constantly. It's been letting me down lately. I'm still no closer to understanding why, but now I have to ask why it helped me this time and not the others.

—NF26