Hello again. Mad Man in the Flesh here once more. And I am hating myself for starting a fourth story when I have three already in progress along with school work. I'm just trying to get ideas out and I'm sorry if I'm disappointing people with my slow updates of my other stories. I just had this idea and thought I'd get it down, especially with the hype of Episode 7. I just can't wait for Star Wars and it's gotten me into a Star Wars mood so this had to be done.
Anyway, enjoy the story. Let me know what you think in the reviews.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or RWBY. They are owned by Disney, Lucasarts and Roosterteeth.
Seraph didn't know how his life lead him up to this moment. This moment being dodging a black haired girl and her overly large scythe while also keeping an eye on some girl in glasses and a beret who had a large chain gun pointed at him. Then there was also the red haired girl who was constantly trying to either stab him with her spear or shot him with the gun built in. He truly didn't know how he got into this.
Well, he had an inkling of an ideal. He believed it started when the girl in white had rushed at him with a rapier ready to slide into his innards and he batted her towards a tree and then promptly attacked the girl with rabbit ears on her head followed closely by the ginger with the war-hammer who wanted to break his legs. Like he was going to let that happen. From there, everything escalated into this.
"Okay, it seems we got off on the wrong foot." Seraph said as he ducked a strike from the scythe before spinning away from the spear that almost struck his ribs. "My name's Seraph Nox. Nice to meet you all." Seraph had to dodge a large orange buster blade that almost cleaved him into. "Look I'll be honest here. I don't know where I am. So if you could tell me where I am, that would be great." Now he was forced to jump back five feet to avoid the blonde with the gauntlets as she cratered the ground in a fiery explosion. With just her fists.
"Why are you here and why did you attack us?" A black haired girl with a bow in her hair said from where she was tending the three he had knocked out.
"I seem to recall the white haired one attacked first and also, I don't know where I am. So if we could put down our weapons, I'd gladly discuss this." Seraph said, raising his arms in a placating manner. The blonde apparently didn't like that.
"Like hell!" She yelled and used the explosion from her gauntlets to move towards him at vast speeds. Seraph felt his eyes widen as he pushed his arms forward and let loose a weak Force Blast that stopped her advance and pushed her back to her allies.
"Everyone saw that. I was being nice and she attacked me!" Seraph yelled, pointing his finger at the blonde.
"Yang. Duck!" The scythe wielder shouted and the blonde did and Seraph watched as the little girl moved at inhuman speeds with the large red blade coming behind. Seraph's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the young girl and channeled the Force through his legs and jumped high in the air and into a tree to avoid the slash.
"I'm trying to be nice here!" He shouted and everyone could tell he was slowly getting angry at the developments. "But everyone else is too caught up on trying to gut me. Or riddle me with bullets. Seriously, why bullets? Why not laser bolts?" Everyone was quiet here as the man went silent as he seemed to be contemplating something. "Where the Kriff am I?" Seraph shouted as he looked to where his Starfighter had fallen in the forest, smoke rising from its crash. Not even sparing the teens a glance, he moved through the trees and towards the fallen ship with the teens close behind him. If his hunch was correct, he just happened upon an uncharted world. The Gray would love that.
"Get back here, you asshole!" The blonde, Yang, shouted as she ran along the forest floor with the bow wearing girl following him in the trees.
"I don't have time for this." Seraph muttered out as he stopped and raised his arms. And promptly set three trees on fire through the use of pyrokinesis. The yelps of surprise told him his pursuers weren't expecting something like that to happen and it gave him enough time to use the Force to collapse ten trees and make a blazing obstacle behind him. The screams of frustration told him the plan worked.
The whirring from a chain gun told him he had to run and he was soon proven correct as a concentrated burst of rounds pulverized the branch he just vacated and it was only by constantly moving that Seraph was avoiding the deadly rounds.
"Stop shooting me!" He shouted out in hopes that it might actually work. It didn't. The rounds flying after him only increased in number.
After two minutes of running and dodging, Seraph came across a clearing that his ship had passed through. If the cracked trees and trenches in the ground meant anything. Good news was that he was close to his ship and he had a fully functional holo pad and communicator that survived the wreckage of his crash. The bad news was his ships was still five minutes away.
Holding in a groan, Seraph was about to run again when the small girl with the scythe barrelled through the bushes with her weapon behind her and the red haired spear wielder came moments after.
"Are you ready to stop running?" The smaller of the two said as she levelled the scythe at him. Seraph could make out indication of a barrel at the top of the weapon and the bolt lever the girl was holding tightly.
"Dammit." Seraph murmured. "I did nothing wrong. You all attacked me first."
"Then why did you run away?" The red head asked as she transitioned her spear into a gun in three seconds. Seraph made a mental note of that.
"I didn't want to die." Seraph said as he stared warily at the two girls who weren't going to let him go without a fight. "We seem to have reached an impasse. I want to leave but you obviously won't let me." Reaching out with the force, he could feel the other teens getting closer, even the three he knocked out. He inwardly grimaced. He was going to have to end this quickly.
Pushing backwards quickly, he surprised the girls for a few vital seconds and that gave him enough time to send Force Lightning barreling towards the two who couldn't dodge it in time. The force of the attack lifted them clean off the ground and into the trees were the lightning continued to spark around their bodies. The red head had it the worse with the amount of metal she was wearing.
Seraph didn't wait around long as he ran through the forest again, faintly hearing people cry out 'Ruby' and 'Pyrrha' as he ran. He filed the names away for later and put more effort into running away from the group.
"I hate my life." Seraph muttered and acted on his instinct to jump high and was glad he did. The ginger with the hammer had just tried to swing for his legs and the girl with the rapier had tried to stab him through the heart. Seraph saw red at this and charged a Force Blast while he fell. The surprise on the two girls' faces as he unleashed the blow brought a smirk to his face as they were forced to the ground that cratered as the blast hit. Too bad Seraph didn't notice his third attacker.
The kick to his back forced him into a tree and when he looked up, he saw the girl with bunny ears standing across from him in another, eyes had narrowed dangerously and her body was tensed to move and strike. And this girl was definitely more skilled than the younger ones.
"So, what's your name? I'm Seraph Nox." Seraph said as he inspected the girl. Long legs that were lean but muscled, a box or purse slung over her hip and a brown and yellow suit with a stitched heart on it.
"Velvet Scarlatina." She said, her eyes never leaving his body. More than likely trying to see his features. Probably didn't realise he was wearing a face mask under the white hood.
"Nice to meet you Miss Scarlatina. But I really must be going. And sadly, you are in my way." He said, shifting into an offensive stance and drew his lightsaber but not igniting it just yet. "And I don't care if I have to hurt you to get away."
"Who said I'm stopping you?" She said coyly, a smirk resting in her face and Seraph's eyes widened as there was a loud crack and a round shot through the back of his calf and impacted the tree he was standing on.
"He doesn't have Aura?" The shocked voice of the young reaper said and Seraph's face whipped round to where she stood behind some foliage. And rage overtook him. With a snarl, he pushed off the branch and ignited his silver blade.
Ruby was fearful as the man launched himself at her. She didn't know he had no Aura. And the blade now swinging for her caused her to freeze up. She had seen the metal cylinder he had in his right hand as she approached the clearing. But for a glowing silver blade to erupt from it shocked her. Blurring into her semblance, Ruby narrowly dodged the blade by moving into the clearing but was surprised when the bush she was hiding behind caught fire from where the blade touched.
Seraph's head snapped onto her and he lunged at her again and this time Ruby wasn't able to do anything as the silver blade came in a horizontal sweep at her waist. A loud clash distracted her and she looked to see the black blade of Blake's weapon holding the weapon back and gave her and Blake enough time to jump away.
"Brave of you to take that head on. But your weapon is useless now." Seraph said as he looked at Blake.
"What are you taking about?" Blake hissed out as she looked at her weapon. And felt her eyes grow wide in shock. The metal that comprised Gambol Shroud was dripping liquid metal from where their weapons had collided. And she could feel the slight heat that was slowly spreading across the variant ballistic chain scythe.
"How?" Ruby said as she stared at the titanium-alumimium alloy blade that was slowly cooling down but leaving Blake with a deformed weapon.
"Your weapon won't be able to change form. The mechanisms won't allow it without further damaging the blade." Seraph said and everyone could tell he was telling the truth. "But better that than your body. I've cut limbs off with this. Now, please let me go. I have done nothing wrong but a perceived injustice in your eyes for defending myself. All I've done is in self defence. But if you all push me further, I will fight to my fullest degree." Seraph's voice was hard as he made sure to pin Teams RWBY, CVFY and NP of JNPR with a black maw. "Do we have an agreement?" The blade stayed on and hummed with power before Coco gave a tight nod. She didn't like to admit it, but they had acted out of line. Weiss had instigated the attack due to what he had said.
"One thing. Why were you talking about killing Hunters?" Coco's voice was hard but also curious as she took her first good look at the man. He stood at a height of five eleven with an athletic build to him that didn't detract from his strength. A full white body coat extended down to above his knees and had a hood that casted a shadow over his face, silver clasps holding it together with a gray metal shoulder pauldron on his right. Thick black gloves that had the coat tucked into their sleeves, black skintight trousers with silver knee guards and then shin high black combat boots that looked metal studded. Around his waist was a black belt that looped over his right shoulder, held various small pouches with who knew what inside.
"Do they mean something different here? From my home, they are the lapdogs of a dictator, who hunt down any threat the ruler sees to his Empire. They act as his hunters and torturers against the weak. Sorry if I have insulted what they mean here." Seraph said as he extinguished the silver blade and clipped it to his waist and gave a slight bow in apology.
"What! Are we just going to forget what he's done!" Yang yelled angrily at the fashionista.
"Yes, we are. We jumped to conclusions and made rash decisions. We're training to be protectors and yet we just attacked an innocent man because of his words."
"Did a pretty bad job at it." Seraph said as he inspected the bullet wound on his leg. "Only little reaper and Velvet actually hit me and they were glancing blows at best."
"I shot you with a fire Dust infused round and you say its a glancing blow. And my name is Ruby Rose."
"Yes, the Imperial Hunters have shot me numerous times in my legs or shoulders and I've also had my bones broken on numerous occasions. This is nothing. You even missed the bone and major arteries. Really, it's a flesh wound. Better to what they got. Decapitation and a blade through the hearts are a bad way to go." Seraph said and some in the clearing felt bile rise to their throats at the casual mention of death.
"You've just admitted to murder." Coco said, she really did want to take this man in now. Seraph let out a cruel laugh that sent shivers of fear down the young hunter trainees.
"I envy you're ignorance. The Imperial Hunters were not people to mourn. They operated through fear and terror. Public executions and tortures. Killing a squad of them is mercy for the people. Killing an Inquisitor was a blessing. No, I've admitted to self defence. They attacked first and I responded in kind." Seraph said as he inspected his wounded leg with a small mirror. "Doesn't seem too deep. Some stitches and and the Force will heal it fully. Maybe some Bacta?" He gave a shrug of his shoulders before looking to the sky and began walking in the direction of the smoke.
"Where the hell are you going!" Yang yelled out as she cocked Ember Cecila and readied herself to fire a shell.
"My camp. I need supplies. I have just been shot in case you haven't noticed." Seraph said before he crouched low and then cleared the trees with a jump that left everyone in shock. They were only brought out of their stupor when multiple explosions ripped through the trees a minute later. Rushing to the explosion, everyone seen Seraph casually stitching his wound while a ten foot tall fire raged not even a metre away from him.
"Are you insane!" Coco shouted as she spun around and the tote bag became a chain gun which pointed at the trees. "That fire is going to bring the Grimm down on us."
"My mistake." Seraph casually waved his hand at the flames and a burst of water appeared above the flames which doused the fire and left behind a large mess of scrap metal that no one could even begin to question what it was. "I did not mean for that to occur." Seraph said as he finished stitching his wound and gave his leg a few kicks to make sure the stitches held. "But the Grimm would've come anyway with the sound you all where making while chasing me and also what I did." To prove his words correct, several roars rang out amongst the trees and the teens cursed silently as they prepared themselves for a fight. Seraph just stood up casually and reignited his weapon and swung it at a wolf creature that tried to charge him from behind and severed its head from its neck. Howls of rage followed this death and Coco was quick to pin them down as she swiveled round and pulled the trigger. A hailstorm of rounds launched into the trees which cut them down and also killed many of the creatures that were trying to kill them. Raising his left hand, Seraph unleashed a burst of Force Lightning into the trees that killed the rest.
Quickly spinning, he jumped in the air and threw his lightsaber at some bear creature that was charging at the reaper, who seemed to be surprised at the turn of events. The blonde, Yang, looked livid at how close the blade of the lightsaber was from cutting her but didn't say anything as she punched another of the creatures. Reaching out with the Force, Seraph pulled his lightsaber back into his hand and spun once more to bring the deadly blade up in an arc that bisected one of the wolfs again.
"We've got a Bullhead coming for us! Jaune, Ren and Miss Goodwitch are coming and will be here in three minutes!" The red haired one with the spear, Pyrrha, shouted as she slashed, stabbed and shield bashed the many creatures surrounding them. The reaper used an unrefined form of Djem So, with her sweeping and powerful attacks that bisected the creatures. The white haired one was using what he could guess was a variant of Makashi as every strike was precise in their movements but she threw in weird symbols that confused the Gray Jedi immensely, especially when they produce many different effects. The bow wearing one was a fighting sytle that reminded him much of Ataru with dual blades, especially with the use of her doppelgangers before she delivered many strikes to their forms. Although, it looked like she was putting more effort in to her strikes due to the blade's deformed appearance. He would have to apologize for that. The blonde seemed to posses a brawler's form and was using her gauntleted fists to bring death on them while the ginger beside her was using a more refined form of Djem So and was battering her opponents. Velvet and the blind boy were more martial artists as their attacks relied heavily upon the use of their arms and legs, allow the male had single bladed gauntlets to help him and Velvet seemed to have 'Dust' enhanced shoes. The giant man in green armour, much like the ginger had a refined form of Djem So with his Buster blade that he used to great effect in smashing the ground or bisecting some of the larger creatures with precise strikes. Then there was the last girl who used her bag to bash the creatures of darkness away from them in a style faintly reminiscent of Vapaad with its brutality.
"Where did I end up?" Seraph questioned himself quietly as he severed a head from one of the bear creatures and then bisected another wolf before unleashing a Force Blast into the trees. Sensing a large figure moving through the trees, Seraph stiffened up and turned to the direction it was coming from in time to see a large scorpion type creature to barge through the trees.
"Deathstalker!" Ruby shouted on seeing the Grimm appear and she got everyone's attention as they turned to stare at the large Grimm. "Weiss, get the Ice Dust ready!" Ruby yelled at her teammate and got a grunt in response.
"Interesting. Very interesting." Seraph said and Ruby stared at the man who had his free hand pointed at the Grimm. "I wonder how you'll like fire?" Splaying his hand slightly, Ruby seen the air between him and the Deathstalker ripple slightly before the black body of the Grimm caught fire. The Deathstalker let out a pained squeal as the fire burned its flesh and muscles. "Maybe you'll appreciate the cold better?" Ruby again watched in shock as the flames that ravaged the Grimm's body slowly die out and then the Grimm began to scream in pain as the chitin on its back started to contract and shatter apart as ice began to form along its body. The beast's skin slowly started to break in tears before it erupted in a fountain of black blood and the Deathstalker lay on the ground. Dead from no physical harm. "The wolves are next." Seraph said and his hand swung round to the five remaining Beowloves in the clearing that got the same icy treatment as the Deathstalker, bleeding in fountains of blood with ice crystals forming across their body.
The teens in the clearing stopped to stare at the man who had just killed the Grimm without even touching them.
"What did you just do?" Velvet said fearfully as she inspected the bodies of the Grimm that were dissolving into the black vapour they normally did.
"Cyrokinesis. I took the body heat they produced and dropped it to minus three hundred. The skin and muscle was forced to contract greatly due to loss of heat while the liquid in their bodies was forced to expand which ripped the body apart and left frost on them." Seraph said as he clipped his weapon to his waist before looking up as a Bullhead appeared overhead with two blondes and a black haired rider. From Seraph's view, he could see the older blonde was a woman with glasses and was wearing a white vest and black skirt with a cape around her shoulders with a purple inside. The other blonde was wearing a black hoodie and blue trousers that looked as though they had seen better days. Over his hoodie, he wore a silver chest plate and had a sword on his left hip. The black haired boy seemed to be wearing a green traditional robe that was decorated with golden buttons and he had an armoured undershirt beneath the robe if the black material around his wrists meant anything before the outfit was finished off with a pair of white trousers.
"Everyone, get in." The blonde woman commanded, staring at her students before locking her gaze with the man in white and black. Her eyes narrowed considerably. "The headmaster wants a word with you all." The students gave a gulp and Seraph was confused. A school taught children how to fight. For what reason? But as he stared at where the creatures of black once where, he got his reason.
"Mister Arc, Mister Lie. You are both excused from this talk. I need only to talk with your partners." Ozpin spoke from where he was seated behind his desk and staring at the three teams. Jaune and Ren did as they were told and left the room. They both knew that Ozpin wanted them to leave and that left ten teens in the room while the man in white stood a few meters to the side of the teens. "Now then, I believe you ten owe our guest an apology for your unfounded attack." There was a mumbled 'sorry' from everyone in the room and Ozpin looked happy enough when the man nodded in acceptance. Although Yang was openly glaring at him. Glynda had confided in Ozpin that she hadn't taken her gaze off him since the Bullhead.
"So, who are you, if I may ask?" Ozpin said and looked towards the man in white.
"Seraph Nox. Pleasure to meet you, sir." Seraph said, inclining his head towards the headmaster.
"Nice to meet you too. So, what were you doing in the Emerald Forest?"
"Camping and training for the most part."
"Hiding for the rest." Ozpin took his silence as confirmation as well as the grim look CFVY had on their faces. "It's interesting. I've seen such a semblance only once in my life before. Along with a blade like that. It must have been thirty years or more ago. Except the man I knew was at least forty and carried a green blade. Said his name was Qui-Gon Jinn. A wise and powerful man." Ozpin seen Seraph's head shot upwards at the mention of the name.
"You knew of Master Jinn?" Seraph said and Ozpin smiled as he knew what he was dealing with.
"Glynda, you are in charge of the punishment for our students here. Not too harsh. I understand that they misinterpreted Mister Nox's words. But I must speak with Mister Nox alone." The tone of his voice left no room for argument and Glynda took the ten students out of the room for their punishment. But not without casting a glance at Ozpin as she left. No doubt she was going to want answers for his behavior. But the young Force user took priority for now.
"So, are you a Jedi or a Sith?" Ozpin questioned as he took a sip of his coffee and stared at the white clad man in interest.
"I'm part of the Order of the Gray Jedi. An Order that rests in the middle of the sides of the Force. We use the Dark without being tempted by it. The Jedi do not agree with us as we differ from what their Code teaches and instead focus on both." Seraph said, sitting in the chair opposite Ozpin's desk.
"Qui- Gon told me there was an Order like you and he was considered as such a man. Still, he helped me in a difficult situation and I helped him. I assume that the large fire in the forest was your ship exploding?"
"Yes. It was going to blow up anyway. I just wanted to make sure that no one got their hands on any information I had. I'm sure you can understand."
"You realize that you'll never be able to get off this planet without it?" Ozpin asked the man and he gave a nod in response.
"Master Jinn most likely told you how a war was occurring from where we come from?" Ozpin nodded, recalling something about a Federation. "He died long before the war truly began. The war escalated and the Republic got Clone soldiers to fight for them which slowly turned the war in their favour. But a Sith Lord worked his way up in the ranks of the Republic and then executed an order. Order Sixty-Six. Every clone turned on their Jedi Commanders. It became known as the Great Purge. The ripple that went through the Force was catastrophic. Hundreds of Jedi killed near simultaneously. Even the younglings were not spared from it." Seraph cast his head down in sorrow and Ozpin followed him, small tears coming from his eyes. "The Gray survived as we rarely participated in the war. And when we did, it was with the other Jedi. We had no clones and so were safe. But the Sith Lord had now declared a Galatic Empire and ruled that any Force Sensitive was an enemy. But because of the mass killing, we knew to go into hiding. I've been on the run for sixteen years now. Ten without my Master at my side. A terrible way for an eight year old to grow up, wouldn't you agree?" Seraph said as he pushed the hood of his head to reveal the black metal face mask with red lines running from the eye holes, making it look as though he was crying. Taking this off, Ozpin got a good look at the Knight. His skin was lightly tanned with high cheekbones, giving him an aristocratic look. A mop of black hair flopped over his eyes which Ozpin could see were a ruby red with flecks of green and blue strewn about.
"It is shocking there could be so much evil in the world. But what stops this Empire coming here?"
"Uncharted space. I was lucky enough not to be tracked when I jumped into hyperspace but in the Uncharted zone, there is a large number of asteroid belts that stop the largest of ships from approaching the space while the small ships would have to be extremely lucky. Even if they get past all that, there is the problem of some creature living there. I didn't get a good look at it but it is large and dangerous if it can live in space. I was able to survive the beast but I was knocked into your planet's orbit in the process without knowing where I was. The Empire, if they decide to hunt me while constantly have to inspect every rock for me, a complete waste of resources. You know the rest from there." Seraph said, brushing his hair out of his eyes.
"That leaves me with quite the predicament. In the off chance this Empire arrives here, I would find it wish to have you close by to help us. But you are too old to be considered a student of the school." Seraph could see where the bespectacled man was going with this and could only chuckle. "You have shown immense skill in blade work and stamina, being able to out run ten of my students with exceptional ease, even if they didn't know it. How would you like to be a teacher here? Or an assistant at the least to our combat and survival teachers here at Beacon?"
""What would my job entail?" Seraph asked, leaning forward, his head resting on interlocked fingers.
"You would help train the next generation of Hunters and Huntresses to fight the forces of Grimm while also going out on missions that I deem too difficult for my students to handle and accompany some of the younger teams on missions. You would also spar with them in combat classes so as to gauge their progress. But if you do so, I would ask of you to get another weapon to use. I can't have my student's weapons constantly being reforged after they fight with you." Ozpin said, smiling at the black haired man who seemed to be taking his offer into consideration.
"Do you have the necessary equipment to forge a sword and dagger?" Ozpin gave a nod. "So, do I call you boss or Headmaster then?"
"Headmaster or sir is fine. I'll show you to the forges. When you are done, please contact me with this." Ozpin gave Seraph a Scroll and a quick rundown on how to work the device. It was really a smaller and less powerful holopad. "I'll introduce you to the staff here and who you'll be helping."
"Yes, sir." Seraph said as he followed after Ozpin, placing the scroll in one of his pouches and making sure the mask was secured over his face along with his lightsaber. It took ten minutes for the pair to reach the forges and quite thankfully it was empty.
"I'll send a message to everyone that the forges are receiving maintenance, so you'll be undisturbed until you are finished. I wish you luck." Ozpin said before turning on his heel and walking down the way he came. Seraph felt a smirk cross his face as he entered the forges and locked the doors behind him. He was going to have fun. Raising his hands, he called on the Force and began the first step in crafting his weapons. And armour.
6 Hours later.
"Why are we here, Ozpin?" A twenty three year old, female Faunus with pink hair, pink fox ears and a bushy pink tail spoke up as the major members of staff were gathered in the board room. It was ten o'clock at night and it was meant to be the teacher's weekly poker night. Until Ozpin had called them. Oobleck and Port were sitting on the many seats that lay around the large mahogany table, talking about various species of Grimm, Glynda sat a few chairs down from them and looking at their boss with a raised eyebrow and a curious look in her eyes.
"Everything will be explained shortly, Miss Peach." Ozpin said, getting a sigh from the survival specialist in the room while Glynda gave her a sympathetic look. Maria Peach was the youngest teacher at Beacon. And for good reason as well. She was an experienced Huntress with a Master's in Chemistry, Physics and a survivalist expert. Ozpin was quick to take her into Beacon when she graduated and had earned many credentials from the Vale Council in a few short months. "Here is the subject of the meeting now." Maria looked to the door as the newcomer entered. She could make out messy black hair and tanned skin along with his white overcoat with a hood and a segmented arm guard running down his right arm. On his left hip, he had a metre straight long sword with no hand guard held in a red sheathe while a dagger the length of his forearm was strapped to his outside right thigh. Turning around, Maria saw the black and red tear mask he wore and jerked slightly in surprise, as did the other teachers.
"Headmaster." The new entrance said in a deep, husky tone as he inclined his head to the headmaster.
"Please, take a seat, Seraph." Ozpin said, gesturing to the empty seats and he sat down at the head of the table, directly opposite from Ozpin. Glynda's eyes widened slightly as she stared at the new arrival in slight shock before looking at the headmaster.
"What is going on, Ozpin?" Glynda growled out.
"Mr. Nox has agreed to give his experience to Beacon to help train the students. He shall be joining yourself and Miss Peach in your classes and shall also accompany the younger students on their missions and go on missions from the Council from time to time."
"What is going on here?" Maria asked, staring between Ozpin, Glynda and Nox with confusion on her face that was mirrored by Oobleck and Port.
"Some of our students found Seraph in the Emerald Forest earlier today and brought him back to Beacon. From there, I questioned him and found him related to an old acquaintance of mine. Qui-Gon Jinn. I'm sure that Port and Glynda remember him. He was a man of exceptional power and skill so I believed it would be a boon for Beacon to have someone like Mr. Nox teaching with us."
"Why not Qui-Gon himself? I can still remember that fight. He thrashed all three of us in a matter of minutes."
"He's dead. There was a war back home and he was among one of the first casualties of it. This was about twenty years ago." Seraph said, spinning a small green crystal in his hand. "I'm not at liberty to discuss anything that occurred or what is currently happening. Security reasons and all." He added after seeing Oobleck's inquiring look.
"So, he shall be helping Maria and I in our classes." Glynda asked and got a nod from Ozpin in response. "Miss Xiao Long will like that."
"What happened between those two?" Port questioned, staring behind his squinty eyes at the new staff member.
"Because of the war, a dictatorship was established and certain people where declared traitors. I was one of those people. We were hunted down by Hunters. The name given to the elite killers. The students overheard me talking about killing a few and took it to mean I had killed some from this organization." The teachers gave a nod of acceptance to his story. They could see how something like that could spark a conflict. "Miss Xiao Long just seems to have a temper."
"So, what will he exactly be doing in our classes?" Maria asked, ready to put her new slave... assistant to the test.
"He will take your classes when you are unable to do so. He shall, if you both so allow, help in demonstrations. For Glynda, he will be allowed to spar with the students. For you Maria, he shall accompany you on some of your expeditions." Ozpin said and the two teachers gave their consent to the plan. "Thank you for meeting on such short notice. I greatly appreciate it." Ozpin rose from his seat and made eye contact with Seraph. "Welcome to Beacon, Seraph Nox." With that, he walked out of the room.
"This will be fun." Seraph said as he rose from his chair and gave the four remaining in the room a slight bow. "I shall join your classes tomorrow, if that is okay with you both?"
"That's fine." Maria said, mentally sizing him up and subtly pushing her Aura against him. She was inwardly surprised when he flicked it away like an annoying bug. "If possible, try come to my class five minutes before it starts to help me set it up." With her orders given, the pinkette walked out of the room and pouted as she noticed that the new arrival was taller than her by a head. Even some of the students were taller than her and Ruby Rose, a girl six years younger than her measured up to her chin.
"My class is at eleven o'clock. Please arrive promptly so I may introduce you to the remaining first years." Glynda said and once she got a nod from the man, she walked out from the room as well.
"Well, young man. I wish you the best of luck not trying to die. Glynda and Victoria are forces to reckon with."Port said and clapped Seraph on the shoulder, getting a small chuckle from the man.
"If they want to kill me then I'll be sure to sell tickets first and give them a good fight."Seraph joked, getting a boisterous laugh from the grey haired man.
"Good man. My door is always open if you wish to talk." Port gave Seraph's shoulder a squeeze before ambling out of the room, leaving Seraph with the green haired man.
"Well, if you ever wish to talk, just like Port, my room is always open to you and if you can give me some history of your home, I would greatly appreciate it. Learning about a new culture is always exciting." Oobleck said before he sped out of the room. Seraph cast his eyes over the room and felt a smile come to his face.
"This is going to be fun." He spoke to the emptiness before he spun on his heel and made the journey to his private room.
Yang Xiao Long was in a bad mood that all stemmed from the events of the day before. The man in white who had beaten them thoroughly and then their subsequent punishment of getting to pull out all the weeds in every garden that Beacon had. Yang had counted over thousand weeds before going back to the room and felling like her back was broken when she heard the several horrifying cracks when she stretched. Thankfully, that wasn't the case but she couldn't help but be angry at the person who caused such a fear. The man in white who called himself Seraph Nox. Her face formed a frown which caused her black haired partner to look at her with some confusion but it quickly went away as she realised what Yang was thinking. Blake, too, felt some resentment for the man who had melted Gambol Shroud with just his blade. Thankfully, Ruby knew her way around weapons and Blake kept spares of her blade and within an hour, Gambol Shroud was good as new.
But the most irritated out of the team was Weiss. And with good reason. The heiress had been beaten soundly by the same guy twice in a mater of minutes and with minimal effort on his part. For someone like Weiss, who strived to be perfect, to be beaten so easily wasn't good for her health. Then there was the problem with the punishment. For an hour, she had complained about how this type of work was for gardeners before falling silent and giving the occasional mutter. A dark aura surrounded her as she stalked through the halls of Beacon. The only member of the team who didn't seem to be irritated was Ruby. The young girl had been fretting and panicking over the fact that she had injured Seraph. And while Yang wanted to applaud and congratulate her little sister, she could tell that would only make things worse for Ruby.
So it was when they walked into the final class of the day, Glynda Goodwitch's combat class, did Yang's bad mood evaporate into a worse mood. Standing beside the blonde teacher was the white clad man with a black mask with red tear lines from the eye slits. Yang instantly glared at the man who didn't seem to notice as he was busy taking note of something on his Beacon Scroll.
"You've got to be joking. He's a teacher now?" Yang growled out, her fiery red aura coming to surface as her face contorted into a scowl. Her team looked at her weirdly before they moved around Yang did they get the reason for the blonde's anger. Weiss' face formed a glare while Blake rose an eyebrow and clenched her fists as she noticed the man. Ruby however felt a small guilty blush come to her cheeks as she turned away from the new teacher.
"Hello everyone. How are you all?" The voice of the red haired champion brought the attention of the four girls as they turned to look at the approaching team JNPR. Pyhrra had a smile on her face and Nora was prancing beside her with Jaune and Ren taking up the back.
"I was doing okay until I walked in." Yang said bitterly, throwing a glare over her shoulder to Seraph who just looked up and stared at Yang. She was slightly creeped out by the black lens and red tear designs the mask was portraying.
"What's the matter?" Nora asked as she looked over Yang's shoulder and promptly the smile fell of her face and formed a light glare at the teacher. Pyhrra's curiosity peaked and she stared round team RWBY who all watched as the Mistralian's smile became thinned and somewhat forced.
"Isn't that the guy who was in the forest yesterday?" Jaune asked as he took a seat beside his partner, her eyes never once leaving the classroom's newest addition, nor did the forced smile.
"Good day students. This will be your last class with me before the end of term holidays. A fact that I'm sure many of you are happy about." Glynda spoke and got a few cheers from the students. "Now, I'm sure you've all noticed our latest addition. This is Seraph Nox. He shall be helping Professor Peach and in our classes and shall accompany teams on missions at the Headmaster's wishes. Now, seeing as this is his first class, he has expressed his wish to see how you all are and will allow a team to fight him." Yang, Weiss and Blake's hand were up a millisecond after Glynda had finished speaking. Glynda raised an eyebrow at team RWBY and then at Seraph.
"I guess this was inevitable." Seraph said, rolling his shoulders and stretching his back.
"Very well. Team RWBY, please go gear up and we shall hold your fight last." The team gave a nod of their heads before getting up to change to their combat gear.
"I can't wait for this." Yang muttered, a large smile on her face as she imagined beating Seraph until he was unable to get back up.
"And now we shall have team RWBY versus Seraph Nox!" Glynda announced which had the class and a few of the older years who had joined, specifically CFVY, cheering for the first year team. Yang seemed to be mopping up the praise as she activated her gauntlets, ready for the fight ahead. Ruby had extended Crescent Rose into its scythe from and was waiting for the buzzer to sound. Blake had drawn Gambol Shroud and its sheathe, ready to use both serrated edges in this fight while Weiss stood beside the ebon haired girl in a traditional fencer's pose. Seraph stood opposite them in his normal gear, but with a perfectly straight blade in his right hand that formed into point at the left edge of the blade and created a small incline down to the right. "Are both sides ready?" Glynda asked, placing her hand out in the middle of the arena. Five swift nods gave her the answer. "Begin!" She shouted and Seraph wasted no time in pouncing into action.
In a heartbeat, he had crossed the length of the arena and appeared in front of Weiss, crouched low to the ground and the sword trailing behind him and too close for Weiss to do anything. The cheering had stopped instantly on seeing the movement and deathly silence reigned over the room as Seraph brought the silver blade in a quick slash from left hip to right shoulder, most of the physical force absorbed by Weiss' Aura but she was still blown backwards into the wall surrounding the arena. The students gasped as they seen the strike and many shifted their eyes to see that Weiss' impressive reserves had dropped to orange.
Following his momentum, Seraph jumped in the air and spun so he was parallel to the ground, easily dodging the scythe that struck out at him and spun in the air, his left foot lashing out and striking Yang in the face that forced her back a few steps before Seraph planted both his feet on her chest and pushed off in a flip, forcing the blonde back further and also taking one of Ruby's sniper rounds to the chest. Thankfully, her Aura absorbed the blow but she was thrown to her back due to the close proximity Ruby was with her. In the middle of his flip, Seraph's blade struck out in a flash of silver, blocking the black blade of Gambol Shroud and throwing Blake off balance. Landing safely on the ground, Seraph did a quick three sixty turn, ducking as he did so and swiping Blake's feet out from under her. It was only by using her semblance was Blake able to escape the flash of silver, but she raised a hand cautiously to her neck, where the blade had tried to hit. Pulling away she saw a thin layer of blood coating her hand and sent a pulse of Aura to her neck and felt as the cut rapidly healed.
Spinning to the left, Seraph dodged the large scythe from slicing open his right leg before maneuvering his way into the reaper's guard. With a firm left foot, he struck the small girl's face that sent her cartwheeling across the room and Seraph watched as she headbutted the floor and slide a few feet before she got up, rubbing her nose. The arena was in total silence as they stared as the team, a skilled one at that for first years, got picked apart like they were just starting their training. In thirty seconds.
"What just happened?" Jaune asked, completely wide eyed along with the majority of the teams currently in the room. Team RWBY were probably the top ranked team in the year and they had just proven to be completely ineffective against Seraph.
"He's toying with them." Pyhrra whispered which got the attention of her team. "He showed yesterday that his Semblance can do a range of effects. He hasn't even used it to augment himself. Everything right now was just his base skill. And with that, he was able to strike Blake while she was escaping in her semblance. The speed to do something like that is frighteningly fast. I think only Ruby could do it with her semblance. And even then it is a fifty percent chance."
"What are we going to do Ruby?" Yang asked her little sister as she sent shotgun rounds from her gauntlets at him. All of which were dodged with minimal effort, but it stopped him advancing so Yang was fine with that.
"You remember the Freezerburn tactic you and Weiss have been practicing?" Ruby asked, giving her sister a smile that Yang returned. "Weiss! Freezerburn!" Seraph cocked his head to the side in confusion at the word but the heiress' eyes narrowed in concentration as Yang catapulted herself up the air. Stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground, ice rapidly spread from the tip of the blade just as Yang sent one of her rounds into the ice and created a mist that would block them.
"Clever." Seraph whispered to himself. He wasn't going to let the teens know he knew where they were through the Force, but it was an impressive tactic.
"Checkmate!" Ruby's voice shouted once again and Seraph watched as Blake and Weiss charged at him from his right, smirks on their faces. They were quickly destroyed when his blade came up in gleaming silver arcs and deflected the slashes the two girls were throwing at him with great ease. He had been trained by the Gray for twenty one years in swordplay and honed by constant battle. Adapting from a lightsaber to a full metal sword wan't a large gap to cross skill wise.
"You'll have to do better than this." Seraph said, halting the blades on his before moving to the side and allowing the unbalanced girls to stumble forwards. Seraph was quick in his movements. A chop to Weiss' neck forced her Aura lower and then a kick to her back shot her once again into the wall, when a buzzer sounded to indicate the heiress was in the red and therefore out of the match. Moving quickly, he threw his sword up in the air and slammed a fist into Blake's face, causing her to stumble backwards and by then he had already planted his fist into her stomach, the physical force picking her up off the ground. Spinning and jumping, he was able to get above the black haired girl and was parallel to the ground where he then proceeded to slam the heel of his right foot onto the top of her head. Blake's legs gave out under the force of the blow and her eyes swam with tears before she face planted the ground and her Aura gave out under the physical assault and the buzzer sounded again. Raising a hand to the air, Seraph caught the blade that was falling by the hilt and quickly spun around to deflect the three shotgun rounds the blonde sent his way.
"Yang, we need to think this through!" Ruby shouted from her position within the mist. Seraph, upon hearing the voice, cocked his head to where the young girl was standing. Yang seen him cock his head towards Ruby and her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Don't even think about it." Yang growled out, her hair being licked by small flames occasionally while her eyes turned to red. Seraph didn't even wait. He pushed off the ground and towards the scythe wielding girl, his blade down by his side and ready to knock her out of the match. In the corner of his vision, he watched as the blonde charged after him and he smirked behind his mask. Stopping suddenly, Yang didn't have a way to stop herself as his left elbow rammed into her jaw and her momentum caused her to flip in the air. The assault didn't stop. Seraph drew himself level with Yang and slammed the pommel of his sword into her gut, forcing her to gasp out in pain and her breathing became labored and then Seraph brought his left foot down on her stomach in an axe kick that cratered the floor beneath her. The buzzer went off for a third time as Yang was eliminated. The students in the stands gave gulps of fear as they realized that the youngest huntress in the academy was the only one left against Seraph. Skilled she may be, but she was up against an experienced hunter who had just decimated a team with a normal sword. No Dust, Aura or Semblance used at all.
"I'm the last one, aren't I?" Ruby questioned and she watched as the mist was blown away and she seen the condition of her teammates. Yang had a bruised forming on her stomach and chin from Seraph's blows. Blake was laying prone on the ground with a large bruise on her check and also on the exposed mid rift of her stomach and Weiss had a darkening smudge on her forehead and was bleeding slightly from where she impacted the wall.
"Well, this has been fun." Seraph said and Ruby watched as he sheathed his sword. "But your Freezerburn gave me what I needed to win this duel. Against an opponent of lower skill or many, it would have been more effective. But against one person, it was all too easy to find your positions in the mist through the noise you made." Seraph raised his hand at Ruby and she prepared to blaze into her semblance. Then she felt the cold creeping up her legs. Looking down, she watched as ice was rapidly forming on her legs and trapping her to the ground in a pillar that she was unable to move in. Before she could cry out, that ice pillar was all the way up to her shoulders and she was stuck, fruitlessly trying to break free.
"The match is mine." Seraph said and Ruby was surprised to find him standing in front of her. "But it was an enjoyable match. With more training and experience, you four will definitely be a forced to be reckoned with." Seraph waved his hand and Ruby watched as the ice around her body shattered into small fragments before completely disappearing.
"That is all class. You're dismissed. Seraph, please take Miss Rose to the infirmary for some treatment and also so she may see her team." Glynda said and it was here she noticed that the bodies of her teammates had all been picked up and taken from the room.
"Of course." Seraph said, bowing his head slightly before walking out of the room with Ruby dogging on his footsteps.
"Ruby, are you okay?" The voice of Jaune asked as the young girl seen team JNPR coming up to them. Seraph didn't miss the glances the red haired champion sent his way or the way the ginger girl's eyes went to his legs occasionally. The blonde seem to be worried about the cloaked girl while the boy with black hair and a pink stripe was giving him a searching look and apparently liked what he saw as the look became composed and calm.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Seraph's just taking me to the infirmary. If you want, you could come too. I'm sure Weiss, Blake and Yang won't mind the extra company when they wake up."
"Which would be any second now. Their aura will have taken care of their exhaustion by now. All it will need to do is heal their injuries. I give that a few hours at the worst. Hopefully the medical staff took their weapons away." Seraph said, leading the two teams now and silently listening in on their conversation while all the while aware of the eyes of the champion on him along with the blonde's. The key facts he picked up were about a festival at the end of the year, followed by Roman Torchwick and the White Fang and how it all meant something. Seraph quickly connected the dots and realized that the activity increase of the Fang was due to the Fang and something big was coming. He highly doubted Ozpin hadn't put the facts together like him. The man was as perceptive as they came, even putting some Jedi to shame. Reaching the infirmary doors, the staff took one look at Seraph and promptly gave him directions to where he needed to go along with the girl's conditions. Apparently, he had gave the black haired one a small concussion and felt Ruby glare at him for that. Whoops. Thankfully, they had treated it and she was fine, just some periods of blurry vision were to be expected over the hour.
"Yang!" Ruby shouted, running and glomping her older sister who barely stayed upright when the red clad girl collided with her.
"So you came to see us. How kind!" Yang joked out, ruffling her little sister's hair. "And team JNPR came as well!" Yang smiled at the other teens before her eyes meet the last person in the room. "What's he doing here?" She growled out and let go off Ruby to growl at the new teacher. She didn't care if she was being disrespectful, this was the second time they had received a beat down by the same guy in two days.
"Miss Goodwitch asked that I showed Miss Rose to the infirmary and to also get her looked at. I did kick her in the face after all." Seraph said, gesturing to a nurse out in the hall and then to Ruby. Thankfully, the nurse took Ruby out of the room to do the examination as once she was out of the room, five glares from the girls were directed his way.
"Let's lay down some ground rules." Yang growled out but was stopped by Seraph's mocking laughter.
"Your attempt at intimidation isn't that great. I just beat you down with ease and you think being injured is going to help your chances of winning? Also, I'm an assistant teacher. I have to get involved with the students." Seraph said, looking over the girls. "You may not like me but that is too bad. You all started the fight and I finished it. Where I'm from, you're lucky to be alive. Others would have killed you, not caring if you were seventeen. That's how I learned to fight. But don't forget that I am your superior. You do not order me around." Seraph's voice had grown cold and Yang felt her courage evaporate from her and be replaced with fear. Fear that standing in front of her was a man not trained in how to fight Grimm. But trained to fight people and kill them. "Let me show you something." Seraph said and began taking off his clothes until he stood, baring his torso for all in the room. Yang would be the first to admit that she would go for him with the well defined eight pack and muscled but lean arms. But the scars that covered his body made her feel sick. They were either bullet wounds or scars from a bladed weapon and while most had faded, they were still prominent on his body. "My first scar was when I was eight." He said, pointing to a nasty scar that covered from his left shoulder to right hip. Yang's face went pale. "And it was a tortured induced scar. I was captured and tortured for three months until I got free." Yang felt tears in her eyes and she could see everyone else were close or just as pale as her. "You aren't playing a game here. People get hurt and people die. It's part of the job. I watched as my teacher was killed in front of me. And then I killed the people who killed him and ran." Seraph stopped her and made sure to pin every teen with his gaze before continuing and putting his clothes on. "You may be skilled for first years. But you are first years. There are many people in this academy alone better than you never mind the planet. Don't get cocky in what you can do as it could get you all killed someday." With that said, Seraph spun on his heel and walked out of the ward just as Ruby came back in with a small wrapping of bandages around her head.
"You're leaving?" Ruby asked and got a nod from Seraph who continued walking away, not even glancing at the students as he left. "Hey, are you guys okay? You all look a little pale?" Ruby was staring at the elder teens with her head cocked to the side in confusion.
"Yeah, we're fine." Yang said, blinking the tears away and giving her sister a smile. Ruby didn't look convinced but didn't push the matter as she got to talking about plans for the half term break that was now upon them and what they were all going to do.
"So, first scar was when you were eight? Rough childhood." A voice said behind Seraph and he turned slightly and saw the hot pink hair of Maria Peach coming closer to him.
"Well, you couldn't do much when the Empire wanted to kill you." Seraph said, staring at the amber liquid in his hands before throwing it down his throat then refilling the glass.
"Wow, first day and you're already drinking? It took me a month before I resorted to that." Maria teasingly spoke, a smile on her face before it became serious as she sat beside her fellow teacher and simply looked over the grounds of Beacon. "Got another glass?" The clink of a second glass told her just that and she drank the liquid quickly, grimacing slightly at it's strong taste.
"Alcohol not your thing?" Seraph said teasingly as he thew back another glass with no problem.
"Not really. I can take the lighter stuff but whiskey never really was something I enjoyed." Maria said. Seraph gave a huff and refilled his glass and hers before sealing the bottle.
"Cheers." He said and clinked his glass with her as both downed the liquid. This time Maria gave a full body shudder and the fur on her tail stood on end. "You really can't drink the hard stuff." He chuckled slightly, his red eyes filled with mirth as Maria's own emerald green eyes narrowed at him as her cheeks developed a light flush. "Then again, I've been taking this stuff since I was sixteen." Seraph said, getting a pitying look from Maria. "So, did Ozpin put you up to this talk? The youngest teachers bonding together."
"He was concerned. He saw the scars. Hell, so did most of the teachers. I'm pretty sure the head doctor wanted to charge out of the staff room and strap you to a table to heal you." Seraph gave a bark of laughter at this. Maria noticed the gleam that entered his eyes and smiled at the life in them.
"These made me who I am today. I wouldn't just want to get rid of them." Seraph said and stared out to the sunset.
"So you're one of those guys. The kind who take pride in their scars."
"No. I recognise the scars as a lesson. Something to improve upon. I can't be perfect as someone will always be better than me but as long as I improve, I'll at least give the guy trying to kill me a fight for my life. And if I lose then I can die knowing I gave it my all. There's no honour in death. Just acceptance that you have to die sometime." Seraph said, staring out to the sunset over Beacon. "The first years need to recognise that. They'll go into a fight believing to be immortalised on death. When really its just a waste. They need to learn that to go into battle is to feel fear. To cast aside everything that makes you and fight for your life. After all, to fight monsters, you need to become an even worse monster." Seraph stood up at this point and stared at Maria who was looking at him with pity in her eyes.
"You really did have a rough childhood to have an outlook like that so young."
"But we both know I'm right. We can have two personas. In normal life, we can act happy and lie but on the battlefield, that's when we really come out of our shells. We become monsters for the sake of everyone else."
"If you don't think a huntsman is your calling become a scholar. You'd be good at it." Maria said sarcastically as she rose to her feet and gave Seraph a small smile. "But you are right. We know the price to pay. The teens don't. Not yet. So don't spoil it for them." Maria gave Seraph a pat on the arm before walking back into the Academy.
"I would probably be better to tell them than let them experience it." Seraph said and he heard the hum of agreement Maria gave.
"But that will just get rid of a life lesson. We went through it and became stronger because of it. Should we deprive them of that?" Maria said before she disappeared into the building. Seraph stared after her for a few moments before returning his attention back to the sunset.
"You may not like what comes out the other side." Seraph muttered to himself before the sun dipped behind some mounains and cast a deep red over the sky. He stood still for a couple more minutes before walking into the academy. He needed some sleep. He had a mission to prepare for tomorrow with the elder Schnee sister.
Well, I hoped you enjoyed all that. I did writing it and I really feel like these past few months have allowed my writing to flourish. Especially from my earlier stories on this site.
Let me know what you all thought about it in the reviews or PM me, especially regarding that fight scene. I need to improve and make it seem realistic for own story in the future which I have began. Butthat won't be for a while yet so let me know. If you could help me out with figths then I'd greatly appreciate the help.
Mad Man in the Flesh Out!