BONE Chapter 1
[i]They see you as small and helpless;
They see you as just a child.
Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild.
Prepare for your greatest moments;
Prepare for your finest hour.
The dream that you've always dreamed is suddenly about to flower.
We are lightning,
Straying from the thunder,
Miracles of ancient wonder.
This will be the day we've waited for.
This will be the day we open up the door.
I don't wanna hear your absolution;
Hope you're ready for a revolution.
Welcome to a world of new solutions.
Welcome to a world of bloody evolution.
In time, your heart will open minds,
A story will be told,
And victory is in a simple soul.[/i]
The shattered moon sat, high in the sky as Vale was living up its night life, few shops open, and not many people out and about, but enough to notice if a large group were to walk down the road. As the night rolled on, a dark green clothed man walked into a store called, Ashes to Ashes. The store was relatively small, but had a few very high grade Dust Crystals and Refined Dust Powder. Inside, a man sat at the counter, reading a book, as his bell rang, signaling the arrival of a customer.
"Ah, good evening sir." He said placing his book down and looking up to see the man eyeing his dust oddly.
"How uh, how may I help you?" asked the Store Clerk. The Green Clothed man nodded, placing a card on the counter as 5 more men entered, along with a pinkish orange hooded girl.
The clerk looked down at the card, and saw on the card, "Dust. Now. All of it."
The man threw the card aside, "If this is a joke, it isn't funny." He says. The first man who had come in pulled out a pistol and pointed it to the clerk's face.
"We require all of your Dust, for free." The girl says as she moves her cloak from her right side, revealing a small box with a blade pointed out from it, and a grip near the top.
"Oh please." The clerk says. "I've had worse thugs try to hold me up before." He says pulling out his own shotgun quickly, only to hear a click noise, knocking his gun out of his hands, and leaving a knife in the wall.
"My name is Coral, and we're taking it all, or you will have a new hole where your Adam's apple used to be." The clerk grasped at his throat and swallowed hard.
"That's a good old man." She says.
"Clean the place out. Be quick, I heard someone else has been trying this same job." The men dispersed throughout the store, and began shoving all they could into bags and vials.
One of them stopped and drew his hatchet as he rounded a corner, hearing a very classical tune coming from nearby. He turned the corner to see a boy with headphones on the top of his head, reading a magazine showing new designs for weapons, airships, and…chess sets? The man tapped the boy on the shoulder, and the boy turned to face the man.
"Oh, hello. Can I help you?" he asked taking off the headphones, revealing his ears.
"Tch. Faunus scum. Get out of here, can't you see we're making a business transaction." He says.
"So, you don't like Faunus, and you steal from people?" he says placing his magazine down on a shelf, and cracking his knuckles.
The man was thrown across the store, landing face first into a rack that held other magazines.
"Faunus hater!" the boy yelled.
"At least I was raised with better manners!" he said again. The group stopped and looked at the man, now sprawled in the magazine rack.
"Get him you fools!" Coral yelled at them. They charged, and the boy quickly flipped one out a window and jumped out himself.
"Let's take this outside." He yelled at them. The men rushed out and got into position.
"Can't you use a door like everyone else!?" The clerk yelled at him. Coral glared back at him, and he ducked slightly. He then reached for a button, but was met with 4 click noises, as 4 knives thud into the wall behind him, pinning him to the wall.
"Stick around, the fun is about to start." Coral said as she hopped out the window.
"Well, you've interrupted our little excursion here, so why not lets have some fun? Hm?" Coral asks.
"Take him down." She said as she leaned against an unbroken window. The 4 men still standing went to attack, 2 taking aim with pistols, the other 2 charging with their hatchets. The boy jumped backwards and pulled out a pair of guns which unfolded into gunblades. He used careful footwork to make sure that the two men with hatchets stayed between himself and the gunners. He then blocked a hatchet strike, and kicked the other man, flipping behind the first, and trip kicking him. The gunners saw their buddies down, and took their chance to shoot, as the boy quickly rolled out of the way, upper cutting one of the men, the deflecting and disarming the other man with his gunblade. The man looked at his gun on the ground, and as he made a grab for it, it was shot, and a small hole was left in the ground, the gun having flung away, now with a sizable dent in it.
"These are high power rounds, I suggest you not do anything foolish.' He said.
His ears then twitched as he leaned back, a knife clinking in the distance.
"I suggest not taking your eyes off of your opponent." Coral said, as she rushed him, launching more knives. He ducked, flipped sideways, and blocked a knife. He jumped over the charging girl as she tried to deliver a sweep kick. She then used that momentum to launch herself up, attempting to land a flying round house on him, but he managed to duck, then block as a knife went through her hood.
He heard the audible click of her weapon, meaning it was out of ammo. He pointed his weapon at her, "You're out of ammo." He said. She smiled, and flipped backwards as her weapon made a whirring noise. He felt a wire string rub against his pant leg, and quickly dodged the knife, rolling out of the way as her weapon reloaded itself, the knives sliding back in carefully as she removed a large Trench Knife from her box, holding it in a downwards position. She rushed him, and the two clashed, her speed clearly outmatching his, though his reactions were just enough to dodge the swipes. He heard clicking each time she would swipe at him, and on the 6th click, he saw her slingshot away from him, down the street, using the knives as some kind of grappling hook.
The boy looked at the store clerk and said, "Keep an eye on these guys, I'm going after her." The clerk grabbed his shotgun, now able to move.
"Gladly." He said. The boy ran in the direction of the girl, "Hey, wait, the police are on their way!" he yelled at the boy. The boy didn't listen as he managed to chase the knife slinger down to the top of a building.
"Alright, in the name of the Hui dust company, give that man back the dust you stole from him." He said pointing his gun at her.
"Or what?" she said tossing the robe of her hood to the side, revealing a smoke bomb which she promptly threw. The boy was confused, as now there were 3 of her running in different directions. Unsure what to do, he chased the one going towards the docks. As he chased her, he heard a bullhead flying near them.
"That must be her get away." He said. She turned as the helicopter got louder, and a high pitch scream noise was heard. He looked towards it momentarily and saw debris flying from the roof of the building, a large chunk heading straight for the girl. He dove and pushed her out of the way, being hit by it instead. She looked back at him, now pinned by the rubble, and he saw the girl running, her hood down and now torn. From what he could see, it looked like she too had a little Faunus in her; a long fluffy tail, and pointy ears bobbing as she ran.
Soon the helicopter noise dissipated and he was left by himself.
"Oh ho ho. Very noble young lad. It reminds me of myself when I was younger." He heard behind him.
"Huh? Who's there?" he asked struggling with the debris.
"Relax boy, the owner of that shop explained everything to me. I'm a professor at Beacon." The male voice said.
"Well, in that case, could you please help me out of this mess?" The boy asked.
"Certainly, I was, after all, the only male of my village who singlehandedly lifted the sleeping Ursa out of one of our sap houses and into a cage." He heard as the rubble was removed a few pieces at a time. The boy stood up, brushing himself off, "Thank you sir. My name's Burai. You are?" He said turning to offer a gloved hand to the man that had helped him. He was met with a portly mustachioed fellow.
"The name is Peter Port. You may call me professor Port," He said. "and you, Mr. Kibo, have some explaining to do." He said.
It was an odd few minutes, being escorted to a questioning chamber at the police station. On his way in, he thought he saw a dark haired girl being escorted in by a blonde woman. He had asked Port how he knew his name on the way there, and Port finally began speaking again.
"Now, please explain to me how you became so skilled at combat." He said.
"Well, I was a student at Sanctum for a while, and was taught at home by my adoptive sisters at the Hui mansion." He said. Port raised an eyebrow.
"The Hui Mansion? As in the Hui Dust Corporation's owner's house?" Port asked.
"Yeah, my mother and sisters taught me a lot of their own moves." Burai explained.
"Ah, Huang, Bai Hu, Hei Gui, and Hong Niao Hui? They are some fine huntresses." He said clicking his tounge. Burai shivered slightly at the thought of the man hitting on his family.
"Yes sir. I was trained mostly by Lan Long until…" he stopped in the middle of his sentence.
"Ah, yes, the Sapphire Mountains incident, I had heard something on the news about it." Port said.
"Now then, I'd like to congratulate you on a job well done stopping those thieves, even though one escaped. But, that is beside the point. You showed tenacity, cunning, courage, and chivalry. The 3 C's of being a hunter."
Burai counted on his fingers with a quizzical look, "But sir, that's-" he was cut off.
"Furthermore, myself, and my esteemed colleage Oobleck did some research, and that is how we knew who you were. Burai Kibo, adopted by Long Hui, owner and founder of the Hui dust corporation, your transcript was brought in earlier and you have quite the portfolio, I must say." Port told him.
"Thank you sir." Burai responded. Then, a green haired man walked in, with a mug of coffee, his clothes were a bit disheveled and seemed wrinkled in a few places.
"Hello young man, tell me what is your name?" he stated very quickly upon entering.
"Uh…Burai Kibo." Burai replied.
"Ah, good, then I haven't accidentally walked into the wrong room again." Burai was slightly confused by the man, and closed his eyes, focusing, and opened once more. The man's speech had slowed down,
"I'm glad to tell you that your test results came in, and you passed with flying colors. From what port tells me, you do a bang up job on those thugs." Burai nodded.
"Thank you sir, I'm glad to hear it, I was worried because I never received anything in the mail about my acceptance." Port looked astounded for a moment, though, it seemed to be slowly.
"Hmm. Indeed. Well, get some rest, the airships are leaving tomorrow to take new students up to beacon." Burai nodded and closed his eyes slowly. He opened them once more and stood up leaving with the professors, Oobleck seeming to almost zip out of the building.
"How were you able to do that? I've never heard anyone match Oobleck's speed in talking coherently." Burai smiled.
"Yeah, it's kinda my semblance." Burai said.
"What? Speed Talking?" Burai shook his head.
"No, I can slow the world around me…in a way. If I focus, I take in information in a fraction of the time I normally would, and can react to that information. He was talking way too fast." Port laughed.
"Indeed he is a spry one."
Burai left the police station and spent the night at the hotel he had gotten thanks to his mother. His stuff in a suitcase, along with an Attache case to carry his 3 weapons, Domino, Monochrome, and Seiryu, was against a wall. In the morning he brought everything with him as he waited to board the Airship. He looked around feeling odd being a year behind everyone else. He watched the News report to pass the time as an orange haired man's mug shot was shown.
"The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."
The image changed to a white haired woman, "Thank you Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights Protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted over-" the broadcast was cut off by the image of a blonde woman in a white shirt and black pants.
"Hello and welcome to beacon." She began. Burai could've sworn he had heard someone say
"Who's that?", when the woman continued.
"My name is Glinda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." Glynda then disappeared from view as a nice view of Signal Academy appeared. Burai heard a noise and turned to see a lock of Crimson hair belonging to someone he knew. He saw another person, with a similar amount of bags on her.
"Nell?" He said. The ponytailed redhead looked towards him.
"Burai." She said looking towards him. They stared, sharing a silent conversation, one of wanting to fit in, the other of disgust. At that moment he heard the sound of another student getting sick, followed by another's yells to have someone get away from her.
Meanwhile, in a more secluded part of Vale, Coral arrived in a warehouse, where many other dark green clothed men, a few various shades of red hooded girls stood, and a man clad in a Beowulf skin sitting on a chair going through various means of paperwork.
"The others were taken away, had to bail them out you know." The man in Beowulf said, "A lot of wasted money on a wasted job." He said to her.
"But Master Hunter, there was this boy-" she began when the man suddenly stood from his papers.
"A boy, a single, solitary, insignificant boy managed to stop 5 Woodsmen and a Hood Sister?" he says.
"For your sake, you better hope he has beastly strength too." He said rubbing his jaw.
"We are still going through with the plan." He said, "But we'll be needing more-" he was interrupted by a man walking in, carrying a cigar in his mouth.
"Well, well, well, quite the fancy place you have here, isn't it?" Hunter stopped momentarily grabbing his hatchet and pointing at the man, "You. You're Roman Torchwick aren't you?" He asked him seriously.
"Oh, you catch on very quickly. You see, I'm in a bit of a jam. I'm going to have to ask you politely to back off of my turf. I may even make this my new hideout." Roman said politely.
"Or else what?" one of the green clad men asked. "Then I, just might have to do something drastic." Roman replied.
"Hmph, sorry, we have a contract to settle, steal all the Dust Gems and high quality powder in the kingdom, get a huge lump sum of lien." Hunter replied.
"Oh, then I guess I'll just have to track down your client, or pay you more than they are." Roman said.
"Ha, you know nothing of actual honor." Hunter said to him. Roman slowly walked up to him, putting out the spent cigar on the floor, and retrieving another. He pulled out his lighter, and proceeded to light the Cigar and blew a ring of smoke into Hunter's face. Roman was considerably shorter than Hunter, but he acted as if he were staring down a punk kid.
"What would a bunch of wood cutter mercenaries, know about honor?" he said, smiling and then turning around.
"You have 24 hours to vacate, or my friends and I will have to come down here and have a little chat with you. Capiche?" He said as he walked towards the slightly open door. Hunter stared at the man in reply.
"Did all of those falling trees make you deaf? I said Capiche?!" he said pointing his cane at Hunter and popping open the scope.
"Let him have it." A voice was heard from above the men. On the cat walk was a woman clad in a rose and leaf colored dress. On her right hand, was a strange golden glove, "Lady Marie?" Hunter said.
"Do it. As a token of good fortune, leave any of the Dust rounds that your men have procured as well." She said.
"Yes Ma'am." Hunter said as he motioned for his men to move. Roman laughed lightly as he walked out turning his back.
"Ha, I'd never let a woman keep me under her thumb like that." He said.