Chapter 1 the calm before the storm
Every time he closes his remaining eye, he remembers the event he rather soon forget. Him falling down into a black liquid. His vengeance, the reason for his Infernal Fury, was out of his reach. Guts descend down the black substance, like a rock in water. The darkness surrounded him. The beast within was about to be let loose at last.
Femto looked away, thinking that the swordsman has finally been bested. As he starts to count his chickens before they are hatched, a demonic roar of rage and explosion of force blasting out of the liquid that he once was submerged in. The demon god turns around ready to end this swordsman's painful existence. But the creature he turns to was no longer a man; He was a force of nature. Guts brought down his sword with great speed and strength, and he cleaves Femto's left hand. Blood blasted from the wound as Femto howled in pain.
Femto stumble back in shock, and fear!? A mere mortal put fear in a god. Guts landed in front of Femto and look up at him, his Z shape eyes burn with a dark red fire that would consume this world and turn it to ash. A thought hit the demon god, a mortal that has slain mighty demons has now become a demon himself, or at least something like it. What monster have they created?
Guts looks at his sword, and he tosses it off the tower and charges at Femto. Causing the two were falling, about to be greeted by the ground. Guts wakes up. The dream that has been dogging won't yield and let him move on, but no one can honestly be free from past sins.
So Guts got up and head to the shower and get dressed, to start a new day in this strange world he now calls home. After drying from his shower, he put on his Cannon arm. The old metal arm was still good, but age was showing its toll on it. But he was not quite ready to get rid of it.
Guts puts on a black shirt with a short sleeve for the arm with the prosthetic arm and a long sleeve for the other hand. Guts also wore black combat pants. The swordsman also wore a black fingerless glove on his remaining hand. Cyan did say he look like he was part of a rock band. Guts never understood what she meant until she brought him to one, he was inlightened on that day.
He checks himself in the mirror to see how he look. After the last 12 or so years on Remnant, he did not look much different. For a bit, he had a beard and facial hair. Cyan made fun of him for it, and he honestly did not like it, so he shaved it. The only real change in his appearance was the white spot in his hair was more prominent. After he was sure he looked fine, he exits his and Cyan's room.
Guts walk down the hall to the stairs; he passes his son's room. He was likely up since the door was open. The day his boy was brought into this world which was a day Guts treasures in his heart. Kituma was a curious young boy and always learning and seem to have this ability to think of ways to use weapons and semblances in ways that neither he nor Cyan ever thought off.
It was Kituma's idea for Guts to use his Ax like a boomerang so he can have range attacks. After some practice and using it in combat, he was glad he listened to his son, being the clever fox Faunus he is. He got his son a rifle, though Kituma did not want it, he did appreciate it the gift
Guts snapped back to the present and continued down the hall. Guts soon reach the kitchen where he can already hear Cyan cooking, and Kituma talking to her. "Mom can I have cereal?" he asked politely to his mom. The father could hear her let out a small chuckle at her boy's kindness and said, "Sure you can some Cereal sweety." Kituma was excited and dash to the food closet to get his favorite Cereal, Captain Crunch.
When trying to reach for it on its high shelf, It was too far out of Kituma reach. Guts decide to help his son out by grabbing the box of Captain Crunch for him. Once Guts gave Kituma the box of cereal, Kituma said to him, "Thanks father," Guts smiled and patted his son's head. Which causes Kituma to flatten his fox ears. "Your welcome." Guts said to Kituma.
Speaking of Kituma and Cyan, these two are Fox Faunus. But unlike most Faunus that have one physical animal trait, these two have two fox traits. The first trait was fox ears; these had matching fur to the color of their hair which is red-orange, except the center which was white. They also had fox fail that swish behind them, Kituma was rounder due to him not hitting puberty yet. Cyan tail was long and skinny. And both have at the end of their tails a white fur tip.
Kituma usual attire is a black shirt which he wears under a red jacket. Ever since Cyan bought him one when he was like 6 or 7, he always wanted a new one if he outgrew the old one. The youngest of the three also wore gray pants with brown shoes, while Cyan was in her casual attire consists of a light blue tank top which shows off her nice firm arm that shows the muscle on her, but she was not crazy muscular like a macho man or anything. She also wore gray workout pants within light blue color words. Foxy.
Their hairstyles were different but similar. Cyan Red Orange hair spiked down and was curvier and it only slightly went past her shoulders. While Kituma hair is more spiked up like his dad, but Kituma hair was longer and smoother then Guts' short rough, spiky hair. Kituma face was more like his mom if she was gender bend. But Guts did not mind, after all, less of himself inside Kituma. The likely hood Kituma won't become whatever Guts had become.
Cyan was a kind and noble soul. With her kindness. She was able to sneak her way into his heart. She always has a smile on her face. Guts knew he did not deserve such a sweet lady for his own. But love is a strange thing. As Guts walk up to her as she turns and gives him a plate full of scrambled eggs and some bacon strips on it, "Here you go," she said as she handed him the plate.
Which Guts took and had a seat. Which Cyan soon follow and sat on the opposite side of the table. With Kituma coming to the table with a bowl of cereal, he sat in-between his two parents. And so the family of three ate there breakfast in silence.
Kituma finishes his cereal before Guts and Cyan finish their scrambled eggs, and bacon strips. He decides to head to the library room of the house to write in his journal. Leaving Cyan and Guts alone to eat in silence. After both finished there breakfast, Cyan said to her husband. "Guts. You should take Kituma out to fight the Grimm with you." Guts remain silent for a bit and then asked her, "Why?" He knew the answer, but it does not mean he liked it. Cyan answered with,
"Because he is your son just as much as he is mine. Plus he looks up to you and wants to be like you. It would mean the wo-" Guts did not want to hear this, so he got up and head to the door. Along the way, he grabbed his shield and attached it to his remaining wrist, and also grabbed his ax and place it on his back. The woods around there house was lovely and peaceful, but the creatures of Grimm were not too far from the borders of their home.
Guts only got a couple of feet away from the house when Cyan dashed out and said. "Look! I know you fear what you might due to our son if you get to close to him." As she placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "But it would hurt him more if you keep him at arms distance." Guts knew she was right, but at this moment he needs to let his frustration out, so he continued into the woods ready to slave some Grimm.
Meanwhile, Kituma was writing in his journal. After he finishes writing, he decided to read a book. The first one was about a man with two souls, but he already read it, so he put it back. The next one is about a man who was on a quest to kill the god of war. But mom said that was too dark and adult for him, so he put it back as well. Kituma's eyes to the closet, or what lays within it. So the boy walked towards it, like a moth to the flame.
Kituma grabs the doorknob of the closet, he turns it and pulls the door open. And inside he saw a weapon he never saw mom or dad wield. It was a giant sword. Though, it might be too big to call it that. It's was more like a heap of Raw Iron attach to a handle. And Kituma thought it looks awesome. He touches the blade and it the sword was cold but also warm at the touch. He reached to bring it out to get a better look at it.
"Kituma!" his mother shouting at him cause him to jump back and turn to his mother. She looked worried and slightly upset with him. Kituma steps away from the closet saying. "I'm sorry mom… I just wondering what was inside and…" he was worried he upset his mom and he feels bad when he does it. Cyan see this and calms down. She walks to him crouching down hugging as she says, "Sweety I can never be mad at you. But it might be best to not look in that closet again." Kituma was still confused and asked.
"Why?" Cyan look at the closet, then walk over closing the door and said to her child, "sometimes it's best to leave the past where it is." Kituma understood, though he still wanted to know about that sword, was it a weapon from Cyan's parents? Or was it's dads? Cyan decides to give him something else to put his mind on something else. "Kituma lets go outside. I want to show you something." She said to him which got Kituma very excited.
So excited he dashed out of the room and waited for her outside. Cyan smiled at how sweet that her boy is. She thought that maybe in the future she would bring Kituma and Guts to meet her old friends in Menagerie, though Sienna might not be too excited to see her, Kali wanted to see him since Cyan sent her pictures of her boy was born. And Cyan thought it be nice for her son to meet Kali's and Ghira's daughter. But for now, she needs to get her sword and a book.
Kituma waited outside wonder what mom had to show him. He got an answer when mom came out of the house with her sword Monjiro. It was a Japanese sword that Cyan said has been passed down her family for many generations. The sheath of Monjiro was black with a golden fox on it, with a gold ornament on its far end. The handle of the blade was well crafted and had a nice smooth cloth around it, so it had an excellent grip but not too rough. The gold handguard was of a fox in a circle like in the shape of the handguard.
Mom claims it can cut through the strongest Grimm hides and even metals on Remnant. Kituma was not sure if she is overhyping it or not. Still, the sword is a powerful and useful weapon in the right hands. The other item she brought out was… a book? It looks old, older than the house which mom said belong to his great triple grandfather.
Cyan handed him the book to check it out. On the cover had a fox with a sword in its mouth as it lay next to a tree. The title red. Foxes of the sword. Cyan explains to Kituma the importance of this book in his hands. "This book holds the secret techniques of the Kishi family and how their semblances work." Kituma wonders what she means about how their Semblances work. Semblances are unique and different for each person with some overlap. Cyan guess he would ask this, so she answers by telling him a story.
"Long ago, during the early ages of Remnant. One of the earliest Faunus that we know was a Fox Faunus with two animal traits. He was called Azoth. But its commonly believe while he did unlock his aura, he did not unlock his semblance. But those people were wrong." Kituma curiosity was now peaked and was at the edge of his seat wanting to know what Azoth's semblance is. Cyan then gave it to him.
"One-day Azoth fought a powerful witch. The Witch was too much for Azoth to beat and was killed … but shortly after his death, his son Ken soon discover he had way more aura then he had before. Azoth semblance transfers his aura to his son once he had left this plane of existence." Kituma was shocked, there never been a semblance in recorded history even close to that. The closes are the Schnee's glyphs. But didn't answer the needed for the info on the other Kishi's semblances? Then it hit Kituma, and he asked.
"But after Ken died. His son gains his father's aura… and his Semblance!" Cyan was impressed he figured it out before she told him and said. "You are correct, and this cycle had continued. once I fall in battle or die of old age, the powers will be yours to use as you wish." Kituma was divided. With the power of all his ancestors, he could easily be the great huntsman he wanted. But it was not worth his mother's death to achieve that dream. Kituma asked his mom another question.
"Does this semblance have a name?" Cyan answer by saying, "we call it, Ancestral Power. Because we tap into our ancestor's aura and semblance in battle," Kituma agreed on the name, it was fitting. Kituma thought about this, and he asked her. "Can you show me your semblances?" Cyan smiled and said, "Sure," as she got some distance so she can show Kituma them off. Kituma flipped through the book and went to Ken section of the book.
His semblance was called Cutting wave. Which Cyan began to explain it to her curious son, "Ken semblance allows him to launch a cut in any direction, and the power and range of the attack depends on the force put into the swing, and the amount of aura infuse into it as well." Cyan then grabbed a rock about the size of her hand. And she tosses it in the air. Then she got into a stance to draw Monjiro. Kituma watches with intent to see how she does it.
Cyan drew her sword a bit then sheath it back in place. Kituma then heard the rock being split in half by a clean cut from Monjiro. Kituma asked another question. "Can you only do one slash? Or can you do many?" Cyan knew how to answer his question by kicking a log bigger than her head into the air. She got back into her stance. Kituma watches the log. Then he heard her drew her sword and the instantly sheave it after. Then cyan color energy slashes started to shred the log. once her attack was finished, the log was now a wooden sword.
Kituma was in awe. Kituma went to the next Kishi in the book. It was Zack, and his's semblance was a dash semblance. Like Ken's Semblance, Cyan began to explain it in detail to Kituma. "His Dash semblance is very tricky to use effectively in a fight, but once you get it down. It makes traversal easier. This semblance accelerates you in any direction giving you a burst of speed." Cyan got ready to do the Dash semblance.
Cyan was boosted forward in the direction she was facing. Cyan was now 9 feet away from where she once stood. Cyan started to crouch down like she is about to jump. When she straightened her legs to propel herself up, she used her Dash Semblance cause to be launch higher into the air; she was higher than every tree around the house. Cyan soon landed and looked at Kituma. She smiled at the face of wonder that was on Kituma's face. Her son had another question for her.
"Could you use this while running to reach top speed faster?" Cyan answer by saying to him, "yeah but it's very tricky, it's like running on a horizontal escalator, yeah it would accelerate you, but at the end of it, you can easily trip and ruin all that speed you built up in the first place." Kituma understood and made a mental note about that for future reference.
The Next section was on the Semblance of the legendary Faunus hero of the Great War. Eden Kishi. His semblance was an insanely powerful semblance. It was called Shadow Guard. Which allowed the user to summon a physical aura clone of its user, and it would be able to fight by itself and think on its own. Cyan said to Kituma. "Kituma. Sadly this Semblance is very tricky, even with all my years to train to master it… I still can only make an incomplete version of Shadow Guardian." Kituma understood her struggle and said to her.
"It's okay mom. Such a powerful semblance must be tricky to master." Cyan was happy he understood and was not mad that he wouldn't be able to see the legendary Shadow Guard Semblance in its complete form. She started to concentrate as cyan color aura surrounded her, slowly a cyan color silhouette of her appeared behind her. Kituma waited to see what Cyan does with her incomplete Shadow Guard.
She swings Monjiro around, and the silhouette did the same with its version of Monjiro. She kept this up but soon it faded away. Cyan was then breathing heavily. Kituma guesses that it's not only it's hard to master but takes a lot of Aura out of the user. Cyan then said to Kituma. "Sweety… I need a break…" she walks over and sits next to him. Then an idea came to her mind. She turns to Kituma and handed him Monjiro and said. "Want to try it out?"
Kituma took it from her and drew Monjiro out of its sheath. Now, getting a good view of Monjiro's blade out of the sheath. And it was very sharp, and durable, but had this mystical property to it. Kituma then starts to swing it around. Trying to get it a feel how it feels in his hands. Cyan smiled at her son swinging Monjiro around.
Back with Guts, he was far away from the house. And he found the Grimm to let his rage out. A pack of Beowolves were surrounding him waiting to attack him, but the Black Swordsman had his ax Frossraseri drawn ready to fight back. Speaking of his ax, it was a black metal ax that had a large blade for its face. Which made it useful for chopping trees. and cleaving Grimm in half with ease. It also had a small blade on the opposite side of its face. But Guts haven't found a use for it. But this Ax has a unique power Guts found very useful.
One of the Beowolves charged at Guts, the demon slayer dodge its swipe at him and use his ax to cleave its top from its hips. He enjoys wielding this ax in the eleven years he had the chance to use it. Another one charges trying to get a cheap shot on Guts. As Guts turns around, he activates his retractable shield which he calls Ragging Beast. It extends out into the shape of a diamond as he backhands the Beowolf with his shield then chopping down on its skull killing it.
Then two Beowolf charge at the same time one behind the other. Guts punched the first one launching it into the tree, which causes the Grimm behind it to be sandwich between the tree and the Grimm in front of it. Guts then toss his Ax at the Grimm freezing it to the tree, pinning the Grimm behind it to the tree. The last Beowolf in the pack charge at Guts. The Black Swordsman grab the Beowolf, and with his pure strength, he snaps the wolf Grimm's jaw. After the battle was over, Guts took a moment to breathe.
Guts turn to the pin Grimm. The pinned Beowolf remind Guts of himself. Its left eye was pierced out from one of the spikes on the beowolf's back. And its right hand was frozen to the Grimm in front of it. It was forced to chew off its frozen arm. Guts calls back his ax, once it was off the frozen Beowolf, the once pin Grimm push the frozen Grimm which shattered went it made contact with the ground. The wounded Grimm looks at Guts with hate and rage in its eye.
Those eyes match the look in Guts eye when he saw Griffin after all he has done to him during and after the eclipse. The Black Swordsman was going to go for the kill of this Grimm. But then a familiar green mist caught Guts attention. The wounded Grimm took this time to run away and promised to come back and rip Guts apart. But Guts turn with his Ax drawn ready to as he shouted.
"HOW DID YOU FIND ME!? The stranger that Guts was shouting at was a being that looks like a knight. The Knight was very wide and tall, and it also has spikes all over him. Its helmet was skull shape with two red eyes glowing from its eye sockets. On its skull shape helmet were spikes that made it look like he had a crown on him. The horse was ghostly like its rider; it wore armor and cloths that cover most of its body. This being was known as Skull Knight. "I always knew where you were Struggler." Guts then asked with his ax drawn ready for a fight.
"Why are you here?!" Skull Knight was silent for a bit. Skull Knight spoke once more. "Struggler. For someone who does not want his past to haunt him. He refuses to-"Skull Knight didn't get a chance to finish as he blocks Guts' attack from his ax. Skull Knight Pushes Guts back. Skull Knight spoke again to Guts once he had some distance from him.
"I'm not your enemy Struggler. I never was, and ever will be. I only came to give you a warning that your actions or lack of action will cause this world to suffer the same fate as your old one." Guts was confused and said. "How would I do that?!" Skull Knight did not answer, and his horse slowly trudged away, but before leaving, he said to Guts.
"History has this tendency to be repeated. Attentional or not." Skull Knight left Guts alone to think on the words he said to the struggler. Meanwhile, Cyan was feeling better and was ready to show Kituma the last three semblances that is worth showing off to Kituma. Next was Eden son, and a war hero in his own right. Miyamoto Kishi the Six swords Fox. His semblance was called Mirage arms. And Cyan was ready to demonstrate and explain it to the curious young lad.
"Mirage arms allows me to create mirages of my arms that have a physical presence." She demonstrates it by flapping her arm for a bit, a mirage of her arm appeared on top of her real arm. And since she had Monjiro in her hand, there was a mirage Monjiro in her illusion hand. She then swings her two arms and creates an energy slash. Kituma was shocked the mirage created an energy slash like the real arm. But then Cyan then sheath Monjiro, and the mirage arm faded. Kituma had a question for her, but Cyan beat him to it.
"The Mirage arm can only do very basic stuff, anything too complicated like grabbing stuff, and it dissipates." Kituma nodded, it was not as strong as Shadow Guard would be in its complete form but it's a strong semblance regardless. The second to last one was Grandpa Jack. Kituma never met him but guessing that mom has all the semblances, he is likely dead. Jack Kishi had a teleporting Semblance which sounds not as cool as the last two, but it was a nice trick to have up your sleeve. And Kituma listens to Cyan explaining her father's semblance.
"Jack Semblance is pretty simple. You focus on a place or person. And then you teleport there. The larger distance to travel, the more aura needed to get there." Cyan disappeared for a split second and appeared right next to him in a blink of an eye. Kituma was surprised by this and already thinking of ways it would be useful in a fight. As he thought a question hit him and he had to ask. "If you have a teleporting Semblance? What's the point of the Dash Semblance?" Cyan thought for a bit to answer it, then an answer came to her, and she shared it with him.
"Dashing allows you to keep moving, while Teleport brings all your motion to a stop and transport you to the destination you teleported to." Kituma didn't fully understand, but he guesses' you have to try it for yourself and you would understand. The last one was Cyan semblance, Aura projection. Kituma already knew how this work since he asked about her semblance long before he knew about her having more than one.
She uses her aura to create weapons, namely Swords and launch them towards the target. Though she claims she could create other weapons, Kituma never saw her do it. Cyan then said. "Kituma. I got to prepare to head on a mission." Kituma was surprised and asked. "What's the mission?" Cyan explain to him. "Ozpin asked me to go to Mistral. To look for someone." Kituma was surprised. "You Know Professor Ozpin!?" Cyan nodded, and she heads inside to prepare. When she entered the house, Guts arrived. Kituma walked to dad and asked him.
"Father! Did you know mom knew Ozpin!?" Guts was confused about who he was talking about? "No. who is Ozpin?" Kituma was surprised he did not know, then he remembers mom saying dad did not care about anything that does not affect him. "Ozpin is the headmaster of Beacon. He is one of the youngest to be a headmaster, and he is very wise for his age." Guts followed and was going to ask another question when Cyan came out.
She wore a fancy cyan color coat with its tails reaching down, just above her feet. She also wore a gray shirt underneath the coat with cyan color pants with brown combat boots. And lastly, she had brown fingerless gloves and a gray scarf around her neck with its tail hanging behind her. Guts wonder why she was in her huntress outfit. Guts knew what this meant.
"Would you like me-" Cyan place a finger on his lips, and she said. "No. Kituma needs you here. I'll be fine." Then she kissed him on the lips. Once there embrace was broken she head down the path, heading to Vale to go on an airship and head to Mistral. Leaving Guts and Kituma alone. Guts wonder what to do. An idea hits Guts. "Boy. Want to practice with your rifle?" Kituma said sure as he dashes inside to get his rifle. Guts hope Cyan gets home safe.
