"That story was lame." Yang spoke at her sisters story, Ruby looked at her golden-haired sister before speaking up.
"Alright, you go next!" Ruby challenged her sister, the gold-haired girl grinned as her lilac
eyes looked at the others.
"Have you heard of the legend of Grimm-rider?" Yang smirked as she looked at the faces of her team members. It was an old myth, ancient, even. A legend as old as humanity itself, told to children to make them listen to their parents.
"The legend goes, that a thousand years ago, a man was born. The man wasn't human and he wasn't faunus. He was part human and he was part Grimm. He had the power to control the minds and bodies of both. He could change their bodies and he could order them to do his bidding. With this power, he and his Grimm army attacked the world. One by one, kingdoms fell. It wasn't until the Four Kingdoms came together that a war began, a war so horrible that we erased it from history.
Humanity was strong and brave but, they lacked the numbers and coordination of the Grimm. Their semblances? Useless. The Grimmrider could tear away their semblances and use them as his own. Soldiers sacrificed themselves in exchange for time, Scientists tried to find out how his power worked, and Inventors bound together to create a way to fight back. Inventions came and somehow, Humanity held it's own. Until the Grimmrider sent thousands of Grimm to stand outside a well armed city. When the last Grimm fell, their bodies floated upwards and created four creatures, so brutal and terrifying that they were named after the most basic of emotions. The Primal Grimm. Thousands of dead Grimm were only enough to make four of the creatures. Bullets were useless, so were blades and blunt attacks. Their fur was tougher than a Death Stalker's armor." Yang said with a smirk, it wasn't a famous legend but, she had to change a few parts. Stuff that she didn't remember or things that were boring. It was, after all, only a story.
"How did they beat them?" Ruby asked, interest gleaming in her eyes. Yes, she heard the story a few times. Yang read it to her once or twice before bed. Something always changed in it, the hero, the Rider's origin, Ruby read it and saw that it was mostly so that her sister wasn't reading her stuff about corpses and stuff like that.
"They didn't. They sealed them away, tied them deep in caves and did everything they could to stop the Primal Grimm. Then, they went after the Grimmrider. They pushed him back, cornered him. Huntsmen were useless, with their aura unlocked, he could just rip their souls away. So, they kept him pinned down for eighteen years. Long enough for the best of the best to train warriors that didn't use their aura. The warriors charged in, with the information that he could only be killed if his head was cut off, a stake was through his heart, and he was burnt up. Countless people died, souls of the long dead were summoned as the Grimmrider used their semblances against children and nieces. Still as young as the day the battle started. Finally, after millions had died, the Grimmrider was dead. But, legend says that one day, he will return and when he does, the world will end." Yang said ominously, with a sly grin on her lips as her eyes looked over the face of her team. Blake merely rolled her eyes.
"The legend says the world will change, not end." Blake pointed out, not bothering to correct the myriad of other errors that Yang made to the old fable. Yang shrugged before saying bringing up how boring of an ending that would have been.
Little did the girls know,
That at the source of every myth
Is a true story
and a new Grimmrider was walking
Archon walked down the street, he had a black cloak that covered his right arm, under which he had a white shirt along with a black. Black gloves covered his hands and on his legs were blue jeans. He had black and white shoes on, white strings and bottoms. His hair was white and his eyes were a dull crimson color. Metal gleamed between his glove and sleeve on his right arm, hinting at his mechanical arm.
He looked at the buildings, a book from a bookshop. Qrow, who had been serving as a kind of mentor for Archon for the past few weeks, had sent him to retrieve a book of some sorts. It was supposedly the last few of it's kind. There it was, Tukson's Book Trade. Apparently the book in question had came in a few days ago. A bell chimed as Archon walked in.
Books lined wooden shelves and decorated every surrounding. A man stood at the counter, a faunus but, Archon was unsure of the type. It was rather obvious. "Welcome to Tuskon's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun." The Faunus said, presumably Tukson.
"Do you have The Third Crusade?" Archon asked, Tukson raised an eyebrow. Something was up, eyebrows are never raised for no reason. Tukson raised his mouth to speak but, hesitated a moment before actually articulating the words.
"We don't seem to carry that one." Tukson said, a pinch of something in his voice that seemed to set off an alarm in Archon's mind.
"What about Ex Oblivione or From Beyond?" Archon asked, these two more for his own enjoyment than a request from Qrow. Tukson scratched the side of his head before replying.
"I can check the back but, I got a lot of books back there. Come back in an hour or two." Tukson said and Archon merely nodded before walking out. He'd come back in an hour, until then he would check around town. He opened the door and left with the ring of a bell.
On his way away from the bookstore, he passed a grey-haired boy and a green-haired girl. Something about those two made his instincts growl but, he tried his best to ignore it. They weren't hostile to him. Archon clenched his metallic fist.
"Now, where to go?" Archon mused as he continued down the street, he did need to pick up some more dust and he seemed to remember a re-opening nearby.
By the time Archon returned, Tukson had been murdered. The white-haired boy had immediately called the police and, the area was roped off. The cops were, in polite words, not the brightest. It was a disappointment as well, Tukson didn't seem to be a bad person. The metal-limbed man walked out. People die though, that's a simple fact.
Now, after the classes at Signal were over, Archon would go and tell Qrow that the book wasn't there. Archon looked at the academy above the hill, Beacon was it's name. Although Archon asked if he could attend before, his teacher always responded by saying that Archon wasn't "Stable enough" and that the mechanical-armed boy was "Too dangerous" to attend that public of a place. Archon felt liked he just needed to prove that he was ready, that he could control himself. Qrow had let his niece go to the academy two years before she normally would have went, or at least that's what the scythe wielder claimed. If it wasn't for pictures, Archon would not have believed this 'Ruby Rose' girl existed.
That was a while ago. Since then, Archon had furthered his 'training' which involved little actual combat training. It was more mental sharpening, Qrow had decided that the white-haired boy needed to learn how to maintain calmness. The battles that did proceed, involved Qrow utterly destroying Archon.
Eventually, the time came where Archon would prove himself. Signalled by a giant robot running down the street. You see, our white-haired, black-cloaked protagonist was riding in a taxi that was, rather abruptly, knocked into the air.
The car landed on the dark road. Archon looked at his rather shook up driver and grinned before speaking. "I already paid you, right?" The response was a nod from the driver and Archon pulled up his black scarf to cover his mouth. "Consider the amount you didn't take me as a… donation." Archon said before pushing the door, which was now above him, off and jumping out. "After all, I'm not gonna miss this." Archon's eyes flashed blood red for less than half a second before he sprinted after a yellow and black motorcycle, the only part of skin that could be seen beneath the clothing was an area around his eyes, the rest being concealed by the hood's shadow or the scarf. This was the day he was waiting for, the day he would prove himself to Qrow.
Fog blanketed the area, this had to be the place. Red lasers locked onto a falling figure but, their time was short and they couldn't fire. Balls of fire burst from the fog at the robot, an ungloved robotic arm being their source. More balls of flame left from the palm of the robotic hand, which had opened up like a gate to reveal a hole. The mecha locked onto the revealed target who leapt backwards into the fog, just in time to avoid being hit by the robot's machine gun.
"Checkmate." A two people leapt at the mech as Archon watched from the shadow, a stab in one of it's targeting sphere's and backflips away from the explosions of fire rockets ensured the duo's safety. Except for the white one, which managed to cast something on the black-haired one. Archon watched intently through the fog, A flurry of slashes sent a myriad of slash-like projections, Archon dodged them and began walking away, he wasn't needed here. As he walked away though, he noticed something, or rather someone, through the fog. Someone with a red hood, a red hood he had seen in family photos. "Qrow's niece." He whispered to himself before leaving into the night.
"That was risky." Blake muttered to Yang as they left, their conversation being about the earlier battle.
"What are you talking about?" Yang asked as she looked at the Cat Faunus, who merely looked back at her confused.
"The balls of fire when we were running in the fog, those weren't yours?" Blake asked once more, clarifying her earlier statement, to which the golden-haired girl shook her head.
"Wait that wasn't you?" Weiss asked, who also thought that the fire dust that was shot came from their local golden girl.
"Was someone else there?" Yang asked the other members of the team, Ruby placed her hand on her chin before remembering something.
"I did someone in black and white through the fog but, I thought it was Blake." The red-cloaked girl vocalized.
Ozpin received a message from a friend of his, Qrow. The message told Ozpin that Qrow had reason to believe that Ruby, along with three other people, were fighting an Atlas Paladin and that it caused considerable damage to various cars on the interstate. When Ozpin asked Qrow for a source, the response was merely 'Wandering Pawn'. This response resulted in a rather loud sigh from Ozpin.
Archon grinned as he rode up to Beacon Academy, he had been given permission to deliver a message to a man named Ozpin, Qrow seemed to be hesitant to trust the security of whatever he normally used to message Ozpin. Archon looked around as he walked onto the school grounds. It was bigger than he thought. Beacon Academy, he planned on attending here but, wasn't here fast enough to sign up. He needed the school's resources to accomplish his goals. Yes, he had goals, or rather a goal. But, that goal had many steps before it was completed. The first of which, involved becoming a student at Beacon.
The white-haired boy opened the door, walked into a building and then, he promptly turned around a left. He had left his cloak at home but, kept his scarf. He wasn't sure that bringing a cloak to a prestigious academy was a rather bad idea. He had to find help and then walked into the building once more. A girl wearing a red hood in a group of four girls immediately shattered his cloak theory. Well, he found a guide.
"Excuse me." Archon said before jogging over to the girls, who stopped to look at him. He had a sneaking suspicion that these were the four girls that fought the mech on the highway.
"What do you want?" A white-haired girl asked, her voice was rather formal but, Archon shook it off.
"I'm here to deliver a message to a man named," Archon paused before looking at the name on the envelope, "Ozpin."
"The Headmaster? He's at the top of the tallest tower." A golden-haired girl informed, Archon laughed before admitting that he had no idea where anything was.
"Come on." A black-haired girl said, motioning for him to follow. Once the white-haired boy and black-haired girl were away from the other three girls, Archon spoke.
"What's your name?" Archon asked, The black-haired girl looked at him with golden eyes, and Archon's crimson ones looked back.
"Blake." Blake responded briefly.
"Do your friends know you're a faunus?" Archon said, looking at the girl's bow. Blake stopped midstep and her hand went to the hilt of her weapon. Archon raised his hands and backedup."Calm down, I just thought it was strange that you were hiding it." The girl glared before walking away.
"Great going, Archon. You pissed off your tour guide." Archon said before walking forward, maybe he would find someone else to help him. He sat down in the hallway, back against a wall. He wandered the halls for an hour and was still lost. Honestly, how could people live in this maze?
"Are you lost?" An older looking man with silver hair asked, to which Archon nodded before standing up.
"I'm delivering a message to the Headmaster." Archon spoke to which the silver-haired man with glasses raised an eyebrow.
"From who?" Ozpin asked, and Archon looked at the silver-haired man inquisitively.
"I can't say."
"Well, I am Headmaster Ozpin." The silver-haired man asked, Archon pulled out a picture that Qrow gave him and compared the man to the picture.
"It's from Qrow." Archon said, and Ozpin grabbed the envelope. Qrow wouldn't send a letter by courier for no reason. Ozpin nodded before sticking the message in his pocket.
"Qrow must trust you a lot to have you send me this." Ozpin vocally observed, Archon knew it was on purpose.
"I am his apprentice." The white-haired boy said, Ozpin nodded before asking a question.
"How old are you?" A slight squint in Ozpin's eyes although, Archon couldn't tell what emotion it carried.
"Seventeen." Archon had to be honest, he had no idea how old he was. He felt like seventeen was close, give or take a year. The white-haired human didn't have a 'normal' childhood so facts like that were unknown to him, hell, he didn't even have a name until Qrow named him Archon.
"Why are you studying under Qrow?" Ozpin asked, Archon's crimson eyes looked over the headmaster before speaking.
"I arrived in town a few months ago so, I didn't get to apply." Archon said to the headmaster, who looked over Archon, searching for a weapon.
"I see. I could allow you to enroll in my school but, first I need to know if you can fight and if you have a weapon." Ozpin spoke, his tone more… authoritarian.
Archon took the glove on his right hand off and rolled up his sleeve.
"A robotic arm?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow, both in surprise at the weapon and that Qrow, a scythe wielder, was teaching someone who used a weapon like this.
"It's also a blade," Archon began, a blade coming out of a slot on top of his wrist, the blade was hidden inside of the mechanical forearm, "a grappling hook," Archon pulled on the blade with his left hand while activating the grappling mechanism, a thin metal string revealed itself, the string acting as both a grappling hook and the method for retracting the blade. The blade went back in it's compartment and Archon turned his mechanical hand palm up. "a gun," In the middle of his palm, a seal slid open, revealing a hole going into his arm. "and it's a screwdriver." Archon finished, his index finger opening up revealing a rather small spoon hidden in it. The spoon was capable of rotating and had a perfect record of never spilling any liquid, neither milk nor soup.
"So, your robotic arm is also a wrist-mounted blade, a grappling hook, and a gun?" Ozpin asked, to which Archon felt the need to correct him.
"And a spoon." Archon spoke, for a rather simple feature, you would be surprised how complex it was. Arguably the most complex component of Archon's right arm, actually that's probably an overstatement.
"Ah yes, do you mind if I ask how it works?" Ozpin inquired, mechanical replacements for missing limbs weren't rare but, he couldn't remember hearing about a mechanical limb that also functioned as multiple weapons.
"It's kind of complicated, It may take a while." Archon admitted, to which Ozpin sighed.
"Maybe later then, there is actually a way I can test you to see if you're willing to fight." Ozpin offered, to which Archon smiled. A sparring match? Archon had won dozens of sparring matches before he began studying under Qrow. Although, most were life-or-death and he suspected the losing penalties for this sparring match weren't as severe.
"Okay, Team Cardinal, Miss Nikos, are you both ready?" Glynda Goodwitch, a teacher at Beacon Academy began. The combatants were never given a chance to answer because, as if on cue, the doors to the arena opened. The duo who walked onto the what would soon be a battleground? Headmaster Ozpin and a white-haired boy.
"I would like to make a request." Ozpin said with a raise of his hand. Everyone's eyes were switching between Ozpin and this new kid.
"What is it?" Glynda asked a little angry that the headmaster interrupted her class.
"I would like Miss Nikos to fight this boy." Ozpin spoke, by the chain of command it was an order but, it sounded more like a request.
"Very well, Team Cardinal please return to the stands. Mister…?" Glynda said, asking for the white-haired boy's name at the end.
"Archon." The white-haired boy said before ripping his left sleeve off. His mechanical right arm was now revealed.
"Very well, Mister Archon are you ready?" Glynda asked, to which Archon asked a question, a rather important one.
"What are the victory conditions?" Archon asked as he unsheathed his wrist-mounted blade.
"The fight ends when one of you is unconscious or I say that the fight is over." Glynda informed, earning a nod from Archon.
"Miss Nikos, are you ready?" Glynda asked, earning a yes from the red-head.
"Very well, Begin."
Pyrrah raised her shield as Archon dashed forward. She prepared to block the attack as she advanced forward. Archon leapt in the air and spun, she braced for the attack that would soon come but, it didn't. In it's stead, the boy placed a hand on the shield and vaulted over. The blade that was atop his hand was gone, a hole had appeared on his hand and orbs of flame were shot at Pyrrah, who managed to turn just in time to block. She placed her musket in it's slot and began firing at him. Archon shot balls of fire back, the orbs of flame colliding with the bullets as the two cancelled each other out.
"Where have you seen that attack before?" Yang brought up to her team as they watched fight. Blake's eyes narrowed.
"That's the boy from the hall earlier." Weiss added as he side stepped a shot, now sprinting towards Pyrrah. His fists were clenched as his feet carried him to the shield and musket. He grabbed the shield with his hand and ripped it from the girl's grasp. The shield flew across the room after he threw it. He was met with a blade biting into right arm. He leapt back and saw the shield flying at him from the corner of his eye. He managed to twist his body in mid air and avoid the homing shield. He had no time to rest from the dodge though, he immediately had to block a horizontal slash from the girl with his wrist-mounted blade. The slight movement in his arm as she swung, enough to allow her to graze Archon's shoulder, triggered alarms all over the white-haired boy's mind.
"You're not bad." Archon said as he blocked a vertical strike with his forearm. He spun from under the blade, keeping his arm blocking it until his body was far enough to move it safely, or as safely as possible. Archon had to think of something, a plan. This girl, she could change how he moved. He wasn't sure how but, she was doing it, albeit she was being subtle about it. Psychological warfare? Archon was surprised. He once did something similar although, his methods of instilling fear weren't as subtle.
Archon had to keep his eyes from flashing red. The moment his feet hit the ground he rolled backwards. A shielded warrior charging forward. Archon was crouched like a sprinter about to start a race. His bladed arm going straight from his mechanical shoulder. The girl stopped, moving to a crouched stance as her sword turned into a musket. Archon moved his arm, pointing his blade at the ground near her. The blade shot out, tearing itself a place in the floor before forcefully pulling Archon to it. The moment he got there he retracted the blade and punched Pyrrah. The girl went backwards. Archon wouldn't let up, he had to build off of this attack, her defense was superhuman. This may be his only chance. He uppercutted her with his left hand before she had time to react. The red-head sailed upwards into the air, the white-haired boy leaping in the air after her.
"Pyrrah!" Jaune yelled before Rin smirked.
Pyrrah threw her shield towards the ground. Archon spun in the air and elbowed her to the ground. The shield hitting his chin as Pyrrah landed in a roll, her weapon now firing at him while he was in the air. Archon roped to the ceiling. He had to complement the trap. He unhooked the blade from it's spot as he was retracting upwards and the blade flew back to it's slot, Archon used the momentum from it to spin once more. A click only audible to him signalled that he had switched his dust ammo. He fired the ice ammunition at the girl, barely making the shot but, managing to freeze the shield to the girl's back. For some strange reason, he shot upwards, towards the ceiling. Pyrrah didn't stop shooting, she managed to lead her shot and hit the boy, who blocked with his left arm instead of his mechanical right one but, no damage appeared on the scoreboard. Archon fired back, using his left arm as a shield as his right fired the blade to the ground, pulling him towards the warrior, whose gun switched to a sword.
Archon's wristblade hit her sword and bounced off, only for the two blades to meet one another on the next strike. They hit again on the strike after that, metal ringing on metal as their blades clashed. Archon felt the tug again, pulling his arm away to miss the block. He retracted his blade and prepared for the inevitable.
Pyrrah's blade hung centimeters from his throat. "It was a good fight." Pyrrah said to Archon, who looked up at the roof. Pyrrah was, to put it lightly, confused about why he wasn't looking at her. "You should move over some." Archon spoke as his gaze finally shifted to the red head. Who looked apprehensively a white-ice spike fell from the roof. It suspended in midair as Glynda held it in the air, seemingly effortlessly.
"It's a tie." Glynda said as she moved the massive shard of ice away from the two combatants. Archon looked at Ozpin expectantly, If Archon had won, he would get enrollment, if he lost, he would not. So, what about a tie?
"Congratulations, Archon. You are now a student at Beacon Academy." Ozpin said as he handed Archon a scroll.
"We don't have any available teams for you to join. Qrow, apparently, knows about this and said that he would prefer for you to be alone for a while." Ozpin informed whilst flashing the letter Archon handed him earlier. The letter, it had been about Archon?
"I understand." Archon nodded as he put the scroll in his pocket. He was here, he was a student at Beacon. Archon couldn't wait, he looked up at the clockwork roof of Ozpin's office. Then scanned out the windows. Here, here it would begin.
Here, a new legend shall be born.