A/N: So~ I've been gone for a while, been trying to get some stuff sorted out, but i've noticed people are still following and favoriting "The Other Me" which makes me really excited. I wanna make more chapters for it, truly, but the chapter I need to write features a lot of combat, and that's never been a strong point ^^' SO~~~~ NEW STORY! OC TIME! LET'S GET THE METAPHORICAL BALL ROLLING! Shall we?
River: This story is rated M due to extremely descriptive moments of gore, and-
*SLAP*
Rin: No spoilers!
Chapter 1: The Time and Space Trainee
A young boy with soft white hair that flows down onto the top of his neck. He wore a simple woven brown shirt and some cutaway shorts that looked to be made of burlap. In his hand was a little cube that contained a glowing orb. His eyes were an unnatural shade of golden yellow. The boy walks around in the room that was marked with a symbol that he has been told, represents his name. He didn't know what it meant, or how to read it. he decided to focus on a particular point, a stray mark. Was there a reason for it, or was it a mistake? It seemed to have a defined shape, but its nature seems arbitrary. The boy considered the nature of this mark following it from its highest point on the right to its lowest point on the left, where it seemed to point to a very ornate looking square with markings on the inside that looked like another square-like mark on the bottom line, in the center. Above the much larger square there was a simple line with another perpendicular line marking the center-line for what seemed to the boy, to be the main portion of the symbol.
The boy's thoughts were interrupted when a man wearing a mask walks in. The man's clothes were ornately designed, He wore a mostly black coat with red lines accenting his relatively slim shoulders as well as the middle seam of the coat. He had fairly simple black pants, the boy couldn't tell if there were pockets or collar had an absurd amount of locks, the boy counted at the very least 8 on the front of the man's body, and they seemed to encircle his neck. The mask that covered the man's face had 2 holes for his eyes. Where his right eye should have been was a black eye-shaped area, his left eye however had the similar shade of gold to the boys, but the former's was much brighter and more defined to his younger counterpart. The man's hair was also white, but spiked in every which direction but straight up, or straight down.
The boy instantly recognized this man as the person who put him in this room. "Who are you?" These words escaped his unwilling mouth with a slightly curious tone, showing neither hint of fright or of the confusion he felt moments before.
"There will be a time for introductions later. But first, I was told to have you change…" The man's voice was strong and slightly deep. His tone was calm and very collected as he trailed off. "Can you tell me what that symbol is again?" He points to the large symbol on the wall, that the boy was analyzing again.
"You said it was my name, Si-" his sentence was cut-off by a sharp knock on the head.
"Forget what I said earlier, tell me what comes to mind when you see that symbol." The man's voice was almost monotone, but had a slight softness to it. It seemed obvious that this was out of character to the boy.
The boy cleared his mind and looked at it, now he saw a second symbol, "Cold… law…." He spoke these words consciously, but he had no idea where they came from.
"While that is quite the name, it doesn't sound quite right now does it? How about we read the first as it intended by the people who created the language? Rin."
"Rin?" The boy looked up, how had he known how to read those symbols? How did he know what they meant, or even more surprisingly, how was he able to translate something from an apparently completely different language than what he spoke? The idea that he knew things he didn't know he knew baffled Rin. The older man seemed almost amused by the young boy's confusion.
"Now then, how about we get you changed into something more appropriate for what lies ahead of you." The man said as he pulled out a pile of clothes from seemingly nowhere. "Put these on, I'll be outside when you're ready." The man waved his gloved hand over a protrusion from the right side of what Rin presumed to be the doorway. Everything about this confused the young boy, however he had decided he would trust this man. As Rin sorted things out in his head he took off his old clothes that had provided him with the basic necessity of warmth for so long and replaced them with the articles given to him by the older male.
These clothes were similar to the mysterious man, He first put on the pants, they were black, and had Red lines on the sides running like circuits along the white seam. he then put on a pure black t-shirt, there was nothing seemingly special about it. However he then slipped into hoodie, and it felt like he was being constricted, the clothing itself was relatively loose, but it felt like couldn't use as much of his strength as before. He sat down on the floor for a second the catch his breath. After a few moments of adjusting himself, he noticed that there were locks on the hoodie itself. He had one lock on a chain hanging down from a little blue gem on the top of his collarbone, he could feel its weight. There was one on the end of each sleeve they were connected to chains going around the entirety of the sleeve. They didn't really feel like they had any weight, and just remained static on his arm. There were also similar circuit-like red lines along the white seams and edges of his hoodie. And on the top of his left sleeve, just below his shoulder there was a large red band imprinted into the fabric. There was also a chain hanging off of the belt-line of his pants that seemed to perfectly fit his cube. He then put on the gloves, which had a contrasting blue circular design that seemed to have a slow, pulsating glow about them.
After he had finished he walked over and waved his hand in the same manner the older man did and the door opened up for him. He stepped out and looked around. There seemed to be a hub-like area directly in front, with various people wearing the same outfit as Rin. The older man was next to him, "We found them in a similar situation to yours. We took them in as part of an experiment, just like you," the man explained for no apparent reason, "We decided to make all of you Time and Space agents, as most of the current agents are currently aging and will soon be unable to continue their duties. Each person is assigned to one of 2 camps, we will explain more on the way. Come on." The man walked towards a very distinct hallway and RIn followed almost instinctively.
The atmosphere in the hallway was almost ominous, but Rin felt relaxed in this space. He looked at the older male, he hadn't spoken much since the earlier exposition. The passed by several closed doors similar to the one that had covered the entrance to the room that RIn had been placed in earlier. It felt obvious when they reached their destination, in place of the doors that Rin had grown used to seeing, there was a floating symbol, it looked like 2 overlapped diamonds with lines on the inside of the shapes bisecting each of the sides, The 2 diamonds shared a singular corner from which the same pattern was mirrored on either side, a runic, circular design that contained almost circuit-like, small, thin lines. The symbol had a very blue tone to it and pulsated just like the gloves on his hands.
"Attack it." The Man who had remained mostly silent since they entered the hall finally spoke. "Attack it with everything you have."
"I'm sorry, what?" The boy's confusion was glaring obvious, but at the same time, half-hearted.
"Don't play dumb with me, use your weapons to attack the object in front of us." Rin tilted his head slightly as if to ask about the weapons the man speaks of. "If it isn't a weapon, than what is that for?" He points to the cube on the younger male's side.
The boy sighed heavily, and reached out his hand. A silent incantation can be heard and the few others in the hallway turn to see what is happening. As the incantation reaches its end, the boy throws himself into the symbol, and brings down his arms in a swinging motion. Right before he reaches the object, and broadsword materializes in his hand, and he cuts the symbol into 2. He throws his free hand to the front as he quickly dodges back, and a glowing black Archaic Rune appears in his palm and expands to form a magic shield which stops all fragments of the symbol, that exploded for no apparent reason, from passing Rin and hitting others. As this is happening the sword disappears into tiny balls of light. and his now free hand falls back to his side.
"Quite impressive, albeit a bit flashy." the man chuckles from behind his mask. He walks through the newly created portal, and Rin follows on his heels. When they reach their destination They are greeted by a elderly man, though man isn't the first word that came to Rin's mind.
"ACK! MONSTER!" His sword materializes again this time fully visible. It has a very wide base, but as you follow the length of the blade it seems to bend and curve back just a bit and upon closer inspection the entire blade seems to be warped, as if viewed through the clear surface of a body of water. The handle seemed to be the only thing that had a set design, it had black and yellow alternate wrapping, and ended with an almost bird-like design coming off the hilt.
The elderly man laughed whole-heartedly and looked at the boy, "Come now Child, I am the reason you exist here, I am who brought you to this place where Time is meaningless and Space can be molded." He nodded to the Masked man who had accompanied the boy, "You can go now Glaive, I will handle matters from here. You need to keep an eye on the gate to the trial still, do you not?"
"Yes, very well then. I will no doubt see you again, boy." the man who had been identified as Glaive walks off into the murky distance, leaving Rin stunned, annoyed, and confused. Nonetheless he realizes that the elderly man in the chair he faces is not a threat, for now at the very least.
"You may call me Luto. I am an older man, as you can see, many centuries working as an agent has left my body weak. As such I am looking for a suitable lot to replace me and my fellow agents who are all about the same age as myself." He looked almost solemn, but Rin decides to air on the side of caution. "You are weary, as am I." He speaks as if to ease Rin's tension, but to no avail. He takes a closer look. "Ah, yes, I see that Glaive had made you wear the outfit I had designated for the Remnants. I am the one who organized the trainee program. The trainee program is split between Traces, and Remnants. Remnants wear the traditional Black and Red uniforms of the Time and Space agency, Whereas Traces the will wear the reverse color, White and Gold. The reason for the split is because there are similarities between the members of each. You will understand once you meet the others." This simple explanation both answered questions Rin had about what was going on, and brought up new ones, however, there was one question that plagued his mind.
"I don't remember anything about my recent or far off past. Is it because of this place? Or is it because of something else?" Now that he had a chance to think, he couldn't remember much of anything other than he could summon a sword into his hands and that he had no family.
"Well as for that… there is no way to know for certain, except to go out and find out for yourself." Luto stamped a large black cane on the ground. The can had a large blue jewel, similar to the one on Rin's hoodie, on the handle. "Well then young boy! RIN LAWE! I LUTO, HEREBY DECLARE! YOU ARE NOW OFFICIALLY A TRAINEE FOR THE TIME AND SPACE ORGANIZATION! LET IT BE KNOWN THAT YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AND THE ELDERS OF THE AGENCY EXPECT YOU TO GIVE YOUR LIFE IN SERVICE TO YOUR DUTY!" The old man's voice boomed and Rin gulped in fear of the events to come.