"What hit me?" were the first words he said when he woke up. The good news was that he could feel everything, unfortunately that was also the bad news. His whole body felt like he had been in a wrestling match with a mountain, and the mountain had won. So what actually had hit him? Though the pain was slowly subsiding, he was still shell shocked, his ears were ringing and his head felt like it was going to explode.
I could really go for an ice pack right now. He thought. But first things first.
He opened his eyes to find himself on his back in the dirt, partially buried in the in fact. That didn't make any sense, it didn't look like someone had tried to bury him alive there was no one else here with him. He looked upwards to see trees stretching up towards the sky, a few branches missing on them too. That was when he got a better look at his immediate surroundings, he wasn't buried in the ground rather he was sunk in a crater. Of course that made even less sense than being buried alive. He tried to sit up but the pain in his back convinced him that was a bad idea, the best he could do was free himself of some dirt. Instead he rolled over onto his chest and tried to push himself to his feet. He got further than before, but still couldn't push himself all the way. So instead he tried crawling, he made it to the edge of the crater before the pain in his head was all that was left. He sat himself against a tree and caught his breath, pain or no he was exhausted.
"Now then, where the hell am I?" he asked no one in particular. Some forest no doubt, but where? For the life of him he couldn't remember how he got there, or when he got there, or if he had come alone. Every question he asked seemed to drill even more pain into his head, it was impossible for him to remember. That was when the big question finally hit.
"Who am I?" he asked himself, and when he couldn't answer the pain was gone, and immediately replaced with rage.
"Well that's just perfect." He vented out loud "One more thing to worry about."
Okay focus damn it, what's the last thing you can remember? He thought, clearing his mind of all his questions and his surroundings. He focused back, trying to recall images before he opened his eyes, no specifics just anything he could remember.
He remembered being on an airship, it was falling apart as it fell to the ground. He stood in a doorway open to the outside and was holding on to the edges of the door frame. He was looking out over a large forest, in the distance appeared to be a small town. The ship was rapidly approaching the ground as he watched. He was thinking of ways out without getting himself killed. An explosion rocked the ship and he almost lost his balance, but he managed to steady himself without falling.
But that was all he could remember, he bashed his head in frustration. That was when he realized he was wearing a helmet, after hitting it his vision got clouded with static for a second before it cleared up. System Reboot appeared in bold words in front of him. In the top left of his vision was a yellow bar, probably for Aura level. Above that was a name, Kobalt. That was his name, he knew it the moment he read it. He pulled off his helmet to get a check his head for injuries. He found a large bump on the back of his head, that was unsurprising but other than that he seemed fine. What kind of helmet didn't protect from serious head injuries? Checking the rest of himself he realized he was wearing some kind of armor, black with blue highlights on the cloth. On his back was a sheathed sword, he felt the hilt with his hand, something about the sword was familiar. But right now his sword was the least of his worries. He didn't even know what to do, he had no clue what he should do.
The town, he thought. I might not find answers there but I might find help, maybe a bed.
Given what he could remember about the sun's position, the town would be north of where he was. It was early in the evening now, hopefully he'd make it to the town before nightfall. He stumbled through the woods for a good while before he finally regained his balance.
Unfortunately, his bad luck seemed to be holding so far. He hadn't arrived to the town before the sun had set, instead he got there well after dusk and everyone had already seemed to close their doors. He walked through the town looking for an inn or hotel, not bothering to think on how to pay for a room, but still his luck wasn't changing. He was about to give up and find a tree to climb and sleep in when he heard shouts coming from down the street. He walked down to see a group of three thugs surrounding a single man outside a large church.
"Look old man," Kobalt heard one of them say "Unless you want us to burn the place to the ground you'd better pay up."
"This is a place of worship not a store." The man argued, he must be the priest "We don't make money."
"Shut up," one of the thugs said drawing a weapon "you must have some money saved up for emergencies, I'd say this qualifies."
"For the love of Dust, give us the money before we beat it out of you!" the last one said.
"Okay that's enough" Kobalt said walking between the men and the priest "I suggest you three leave the good Father alone. Unless you'd rather deal with me."
"That's easy to say from behind that helmet." One of them taunted "Why don't you take it off if you're so brave?"
"Father could you hold on to this for me?" he said tossing his helmet behind him "Last chance guys, turn around, right now."
"Three on one?" one of them laughed "Like hell, should've left the helmet on kid, won't be much left of your face soon."
"Alright, just remember, I gave you a way out." Kobalt said. The three thugs circled him, two of them were wielding short machetes and the other some kind of spiked knuckles. Something in the back of Kobalt's head told him this was going to be a piece of cake. He raised his hands, not needing to draw his sword.
The first one to attack was the one with the knuckles, who thought he was being discreet with a sneak attack from behind. But the fool yelled as he attacked giving Kobalt time to turn and kick the man in the chest. He put some kind of power behind it, and the man went flying into a nearby wall. The other two attacked him together. He blocked their attacks with his gauntlets and grabbed their wrists, he pulled them towards each other bashing them together. He locked one of their arms up and punched him square in the face, he went down and tried to back away on his hand and feet. The last guy still had the courage to fight he tried to stab him in the chest, but Kobalt sidestepped and brought one hand down on the man's wrist forcing him to drop the machete. He pinned the man's wrist and stepped in with a short chop to his face, he grabbed the man's neck and kicked his legs out while pulling him down flipping him twice over to land on his ass.
"Come on I'm just getting warmed up." Kobalt laughed as they tried to get back up.
With that they all found the energy to run, and sprinted down the street as fast as they could. "What's the matter, scared of little old' me?" Kobalt shouted as they ran.
"Thank for the help young man." The priest said giving Kobalt his helmet back "Might I ask who you are?"
"Names Kobalt," he said "just glad I could help. Those thugs a problem often?"
"Only recently, I give it a few more days before some Huntsman decides to kick them out of town." The priest said "Please is there anything I could do to repay you?"
Kobalt opened his mouth to speak, but his stomach beat him to the punch. It roared loudly, and he remembered he hadn't eaten since waking up this afternoon.
"How about something to eat?" the priest laughed
"That sounds good, and maybe a place to sleep." Kobalt added "I'm not from here."
"Of course, it's the least I could do." The priest said "My name is Jacobs by the way, please follow me."
Later that night Kobalt went to the bathroom to clean up, Father Jacobs must put a lot of effort into the upkeep of his church because the whole place was in great shape despite its age. The bathroom was fairly modern too.
"I guess even a priest has to update his home occasionally." Kobalt mused.
When he got to the bathroom he took off his armor and got his first look at his own face. He had pale white skin, and swept back dark black hair with a single blue streak in it. His eyes were as blue as the streak in his hair, but the thing that caught his attention was the large scar across his face. Going from the right side of his forehead diagonally down across his left eye to his cheek. He picked up his helmet, and sure enough there was a large cut in the same place on the helmet. What had he been through, he wondered, why was he on that airship. He was surprised how easily he managed to fall asleep that night with all the questions he had on his mind. There wasn't a moment he wasn't trying to remember something or asking himself more questions. Somehow though, he fell asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow.
When Kobalt woke up the next morning he put on his armor and climbed to the top of the bell tower. He wanted to see if he could find any signs of the airship crash to go look at, hopefully that would jog his memory. By the clock on his scroll it was already 10:30, a bit late into the morning. He also checked the GPS on his scroll, according to that he was on the island of Patch not far from mainland Vale. The airship had been heading further into Patch when he jumped out, so it would be somewhere to the west. But looking out across the forest he couldn't see any signs of a crash, no smoke or scattered trees, absolutely nothing. He was about to go downstairs and ask Father Jacobs if he'd seen the airship when he heard a commotion beneath him.
Not again. He thought looking down. He had a feeling the thugs would come back eventually, but he didn't think they'd bring their whole gang with them. He counted at least twelve armed men at the door. And Father Jacobs had already opened the door.
"Where is he?" one of the thugs asked "Where's that guy from last night?"
"I'm sorry but he already left," Jacobs lied "He left last night."
"Shut up, we know you're lying," one thug said, he looked like the leader to Kobalt. He was dressed much better than the rest. While most of them had on jackets and jeans, this guy was wearing some old military gear. And the rest of the thugs parted for him to get through.
"We've been watching this building since this friend of yours roughed up my men." He said "Tell him to come out now, or we go in there and get him."
"I'm telling you he already left," Jacobs insisted "maybe your men aren't very good at their jobs."
That almost made Kobalt laugh, he hadn't expected a priest to outright insult even these men. And it was such a passive remark it seemed like he wasn't even trying to make fun of them. Apparently the leader thought it was funny too, because he busted out laughing.
"You may have a point there." He said "But after hearing how three of my men were kicked around like children I made sure the ones I sent to watch the place would do their jobs right."
"Then I don't know what to tell you, perhaps he found some hidden passageway centuries old." Jacobs remarked
"In a fifty year old church? Unlikely, how about this," the leader said as he punched Father Jacobs in the face. "Tell your friend he has one minute to get out here, or I do to you what he did to my men."
The leader drew a small sword from his belt, and stood above Jacobs, ready to strike. Kobalt didn't waste time with stairs, he jumped out the tower and slid down the side of the roof. He jumped again when he saw the leader raise his sword, he fired a burst of energy from his hands to slow his fall, when did he learn to do that? He landed between Jacobs and the crowd of thugs. He raised his arm just as the blade came down to block it. He hit the leader in the chest with an open palm and pushed him back several feet.
"Sorry I'm late, are you alright Father?" Kobalt asked turning his head slightly to check. He had a broken nose but seemed otherwise fine.
"Nothing little medicine and prayer won't fix." His hand up to his face, his nose was definitely broken.
"Get inside, I'll take care of these idiots." Kobalt said drawing his sword at last. A black longsword, its name popping into his head, Arondight.
"Kid you're either slow or stupid," the leader said from the back "I've got twelve men with me, and you're on your own."
"I took on three of your buffoons with my bare hands" Kobalt told the leader "I'm not too worried about one or two more. What's your name?"
"Jack Calico." He answered
"Well then Calico, you can either stay here and be humiliated." Kobalt told him "Or you can walk your ugly ass out of Patch. Your choice."
"Get him boys." Calico snarled
About half of them men rushed him at once, the rest seemed to be hanging back. Kobalt instinctively build up energy in his sword, and when the men just reached him, he drove it into the ground sending out a shockwave disorienting them. He pulled his sword out and went for the nearest one. The second his sword made contact the man's Aura all but shattered and he went flying back. Two more came at him from the front, both wielding machetes, he managed to block all their attacks as they came despite only having one sword. But their attacks were sloppy, and in seconds he found an opening. He flipped his grip on Arondight, bashed one man in the head with its hilt and locked up both of their arms. From there he twisted them and pushed, he heard the sound of their bone's break and knocked them out of the way. He didn't wait for the rest to come after him, he charged at them himself. He sped in on one man bringing his blade up with him, the slice knocked him on his ass. He started building more energy in his blade again, this time saving it for later.
He punched the next man he saw, sliced down and then bashed his forehead with the hilt. That was five down only seven left. Three of them came at him, one from each side. But with the motion tracker in his helmet it didn't matter, he flipped in the air when the two from the sides came in first. He landed on one knee and uppercut the man who came in front of him. He picked up the thug's machete and used it to block one of the attacks that came at him, the other he blocked with his own sword. Kobalt twisted his weapons into those of his opponents, disarming them, he kicked one as the other turned and ran. He flipped the machete around in his hand and threw it at the runner, the hilt hitting him in the back of the head. The last four tried to surround him and charge him all at once. But Kobalt drove his sword into the ground again, this time releasing even more energy creating a larger shockwave. The remaining men were knocked back and out of the fight.
Kobalt turned to the Calico, who stayed out of it till now.
"Maybe the Father was right, your men are bad at their jobs." He said pointing Arondight at him "You any better?"
"Alright you punk, let's do this." Calico said in frustration
He turned his sword into two small pistols and began firing at Kobalt. But the dust rounds were easy to see, and easy to block. After emptying both clips he turned them back into a sword and charged. Kobalt ducked under multiple stabs at his head, and blocked an arc with his own sword. From there he started matching Calico strike for strike, neither of them landing a solid hit. This fight was rapidly turning into a real duel, and it was clear Jack was fairly experienced. But Kobalt's gut told him he was better, much better. He spun with his blade forcing Calico away, he came out of the spin with a dashing stab that Calico barely deflected. But the attack managed to graze Calico's shoulder, causing him to flinch. Kobalt stepped inside his stance, setting him off balance. He flipped his grip again and used it as a hook to pull down Calico, Kobalt kicked his legs out at the same time. But Calico managed to turn to the fall into a roll and came back up on his feet. He came back in and the two locked blades again.
"Now this is a fight!" Kobalt exclaimed, easily enjoying himself
"That all you got kid!" Calico returned
"Tough guy huh? Kobalt taunted "I guess I could take this a bit more seriously, but I'm just starting to have fun."
"Why you little!" Jack yelled as he jumped in the air and tried to bring his sword down on Kobalt's head. But Kobalt met the strike as Calico was still in the air and grabbed his leg when he tried to kick him. He tightened his grip and spun in a circle, letting go after a second sending Calico flying into a nearby wall. Refusing to give up, he got back on his feet and charged back in. Kobalt rolled under a stab and came up behind Calico, he punched Calico in the back and kicked the back of his leg. Calico went down to his knees, Kobalt slashed twice, once right to left, a light attack to weaken Calico's Aura. And lastly, a strong two handed slice down and right shattering it. He flipped Calico over onto his back to see him breathing heavily.
"You done yet?" Kobalt asked him, not a trace of fatigue in his voice. Calico couldn't even get back on his feet he was so exhausted. Kobalt sheathed his sword and offered him a hand up, surprisingly, Calico took it. He doubled over, trying to catch his breath.
"Yeah, I'm done," he said after a second "You are something else kid."
"I'd have to agree." Another voice said behind him, this one slightly slurred. Kobalt hadn't even been looking at his motion tracker he was so absorbed in the fight. He hadn't noticed the new person who was now behind him. He instinctively drew his sword and lightly swung behind him. His blade was met with another, larger sword. Holding it was a man about Kobalt's height, he was unshaven with dark grey hair and he wore a grey dress shirt with a red cape. Everything about the man screamed Huntsman to Kobalt.
"Whoa whoa, easy there kiddo," he said his breath reeking of alcohol "I'm not here to fight."
Kobalt stepped back keeping his sword up, what was this guy doing here.
"If that's true put your sword away." Kobalt said to the newcomer
"Sword?" the man asked confused, he looked at his blade "oh you mean this. Done."
He collapsed the sword and put it on his back, Kobalt sheathed his and noticed Calico had already run off.
"So who are you kid, where you from?" the drunk asked
"Names Kobalt," he answered "And that's an excellent question."
"What you don't know?" he laughed, and that pissed Kobalt off a bit. Before he could say anything though, the man was splashed with water. Kobalt turned to see Father Jacobs holding an empty bucket.
"Hello Qrow," Jacobs said "How are you this morning?"
"Well I was fine up till now," he responded "I already had my clothes washed you know."
"Yes I'm sure, but you're much easier to deal with after being doused with cold Holy Water." Jacobs told him "More sober too."
"I take it you know him Father?" Kobalt asked
"This is Qrow, a Huntsman and teacher over at Signal academy." Jacobs said
"A Huntsman huh? Figured as much." Kobalt asked "You see an airship crash down nearby?"
"Airship?" Qrow asked "No that'd be kinda hard to miss, why?"
"What about me," Kobalt said taking off his helmet "Have you ever seen me before, maybe at Signal?"
"'Fraid not kid, and I'd like to think I would at least recognize my student's faces." He answered "Why are you asking?"
"I woke up the other day having lost my memory." He told him "Last thing I remember is being on a falling airship."
"Sorry but I haven't seen any ships around." Qrow hiccupped "But you've definitely got Huntsman skills, you've got to be from one of the combat schools. Try applying to Beacon maybe someone there knows ya."
"How would he even get in?" Jacobs asked "He doesn't have a transcript and hasn't taken the entrance exam. The first semester begins in a week."
"I've helped students practice for that exam, and I'd say he's fine." Qrow said "Plus Ozpin and I go way back, I'll vouch for the kid."
"Why?" Kobalt couldn't help but ask "What do you get out of this?"
"Well for one I'm a Huntsman it's my job to help people, and I like to think I'm good at my job." Qrow said, taking a swig of his flask "And two, the last time I saw a swordsman of that caliber at your age, he went on to become the Headmaster of one of the best academies in Remnant"
"Ozpin?" Kobalt asked curiously, the name and headmaster title ringing a bell. Qrow answered him with a laugh.
"Oz with a sword, wouldn't that be a sight to see." He laughed so hard he almost doubled over "Try Haven's headmaster. Send your application ASAP kid, I'll talk to Oz, consider yourself a member of Beacon academy. Congratulations."
With that Qrow walked off laughing and muttering Oz with a sword.
"Is he always like that?" Kobalt asked Father Jacobs after Qrow was gone.
"Only when he drunk." The Father responded
"Well that's not too…" Kobalt started
"He's always drunk." Jacobs said cutting him off "But he is a good man. Come, you can stay with me until you leave for Beacon, unless you'd prefer to stay at an inn."
"With all due respect Father, I know you more than some innkeeper." Kobalt said "And I know you won't charge me for a temporary room."
The next few days had been fairly quiet around Patch, Kobalt got a confirmation from Beacon that he'd been accepted within days of sending his application. Qrow stopped by again and joked about how he had to convince Ozpin's head professor that letting him in was a good idea too.
"She's always had stick… I mean been a stickler for the rules." He said "Had to show her a recording I took of your little duel to drive my point home."
"You were recording me?" Kobalt asked
"Of course, seeing that guy get his butt handed to him on a silver platter was priceless." Qrow laughed
And soon Kobalt found himself stepping threw the door of one of Beacon's airships, not entirely sure as to what he was doing. He felt out of place here, everyone inside seemed excited and happy, while he probably stood out from everyone. But he needed answers, and this was his best shot, hell it was his only shot.
Let's see if anyone knows me. He thought walking further into the ship. Not like I've got anything left to lose.