Chapter 2 hot n' ready with fresh edits!
~Entryshroud
Chapter 2, Ascension
*Beep* *Beep*
The sound rattled my head as I opened my eyes. I stared straight at what I assumed was a ceiling. I tried my best to look around, but my neck was extraordinarily sore. From what I managed to pick up, I was covered in wires going into different machines and an IV bag. My arms were a little pale, probably from blood loss.
Then it hit me. I fell down the ruins into the mist and I survived, but at what cost? Was I a cripple now? I attempted to move my legs with success, I could move them but my cast restricted my movement. Then I moved onto my arms and luckily for me, they still worked. I sighed in relief as I smirked to myself. I'm a real lucky one. The creaking hinges of the door signaled the entrance of some guests. They were Jet, Azure, Ruby and Co. At least I hoped they were. I heard multiple feet shuffle across the floor, but I couldn't really be sure who was coming inside. I might as well show them I'm awake.
"Yo, how long have I been gone?" I asked weakly as a smile dawned upon my face.
"CRIMSON!" The group exclaimed with joy as they came in to group-hug me, nearly crushing me back into a coma. I attempted to return the embrace, causing me much pain but I did it anyways. I must have been gone for quite a time if they did try to crush me. Then again, they would hug me to death anyways if I had yet another deathly experience.
"Guys, slow down. How long was I out?" I asked again as they slowly and reluctantly detached from my body.
"You were out for 2 weeks, we were worried sick man! They said they were gonna, they were gonna…" Azure attempted to explain, I searched around for my glasses. They were neatly placed on the counter as I reached for them and put them on. I did my best to look at Azure as he fixed his eyes on me, tears pooling in their bottoms.
"They were going to cut you off today, you dolt." Weiss interjected, clearly upset. Man, about to die, yet she can still call me a dolt. I looked up at her, her serious face wavering and looked like she was about to bawl her eyes out any second.
"I thought you were gone Crimson! Gone for good." Jet chipped in, looking a little glass eyed.
"I made cookies for you just in case you woke up, You really helped us out in the Emerald forest. Your plan helped us pass and kill the Nevermore. The cookies are to your left, they might be a little stale though" Ruby said, She had red marks on her cheeks, she must have really been worried, then again everyone had red marks on their faces.
"It's fine gu-" I started
"No it isn't! You could've died!" Jaune yelled at me as I gave him a sad smile. I know. I'm stupid.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha scolded, Jaune with regret evident on what I saw of his face.
"No, It's fine. I could've died, but I didn't. I'm sorry I worried you guys so much." I apologized, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly.
"So what happened? Did we pass? Am I team leader? How much school work do I have to do?" The rush of questions spilled out of my mouth all at once.
"After you dropped, Ruby finished the last bit of your plan. She ran up the cliff using her speed and sliced the Nevermore's head clean off." Blake started. I can't believe I missed the best part. I guess I should have other concerns, though.
"Then we saw a bullhead come pick you up from the ground and we got carried off in a different one shortly after." Yang added.
"Then we went to the academy, where Azure and I had to do paperwork to register us into Beacon," Jet said. whispering the last sentence to me. "I told Ozpin what happened and he made openings for us," the last sentence came out in a whisper. Nice going.
"The teams are Team RWBY which consists of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. Then there is Team JNPR, my team, Which has Jaune Arc, Me, Pyrrha, and Ren. Your team is team WAV which has You, Azure, and Jet. You're special though, Ozpin labelled you as 'The Tactician' in which you basically float around all the teams and plan out strategies for situations. Only the first years, though. Oh, and some other guys got disqualified or whatever, one of the names I remember is Cardin Winwhatever, perhaps they cheated?" Nora spouted out.
"Hold on, So basically I'm part of all the teams AND I have to plan strategies on the fly and before important fights like at the Vytal festival? This is gonna stress me out!" I said as the group chuckled.
"Oh, and for school work, we have 2 tests coming up on History and Math." Pyrrha added, crushing my last shred of hope. I'm going to have quite the week starting today.
"Can I leave now? I hate these wires and stuff." I asked, it bugs me that these machines could malfunction at anytime.
"Not until the Doc says so. We'll go get him." Azure said as he wiped a stray tear off his face, and the rest of the group left. Except for Ruby who just stood there, unmoving, I think she was shaking a little. What am I supposed to do in this situation?
"S-So are you going to have a cookie?" Ruby asked as she plastered a smile on her face, she saved me the thought as I reached out and helped myself to a treat. As I took a bite of what I assume what chocolate chip, my face instantly lit up and I started to stuff my face with them.
"Shho gud," I uttered out of my stuffed mouth, Ruby giggling a little. I swallowed it all and faced Ruby. The sadness in her eyes told me something must have been wrong.
"What's wrong Red?" I asked her as I made space for her to sit down on the bed. She got the idea and she walked over and took a seat next to me. She leaned on me as she apologized profusely, her voice ragged and I heard her sniff a little.
"I'm so sorry. I could've saved you but I killed the N-Nevermore instead, I-I'm s-so sorry!" She weeped into my shirt, I wrapped my arms around her, her delicate body shaking under my grasp.
"It's not your fault, Red," I whispered, clutching her tighter as she choked on her sobs.
"It's okay, You might've put yourself in danger also, I'm sure that your friends and family would've been really bummed if you fell down with me anyways. Plus in the end I can still move, kinda. I want this bloody cast off ASAP." I told Ruby as her weeping got slower and quieter. She was still leaned up against me and I still had her in my arms. I felt the blood rush up to my cheeks at the thought.
"Anyways, how about you bake me more cookies and we'll call it even?" I suggested as I saw her face look up at mine and gave her most beautiful smile. My face reacted like any normal teenage boy would blush until I had no more blood left in my veins.
"Sure! Chocolate chip or nuts?" She asked, she started to get up from the bed as I scooched over to fill the space.
"I want both!" I replied as she started to walk out the door, chuckling as she went. The doctor entered when she was leaving.
"Call me Ruby by the way," She suggested as she left the room.
"Alright Ruby, make sure you make me lots!" I shouted after her as the doctor positioned himself in front of me.
The rest of the day went by uneventful, the doctor just said that I would be out tomorrow but the cast had to stay on for another week and I would have to use crutches. I didn't mind as long as I got to leave that place. I tasted some of the food here, and let's just say, no one is ready for that. The doctor also unhooked all the devices from me other than a few blood and IV bags connected to me. It's a miracle I can leave this place so soon anyways.
I closed my eyes again as I drifted off into a deep slumber.
I appeared in a small room, just me alone. I looked around as I noticed school desks around me and people started to fill them up. The whole class started to stare at me, they were probably looking at my hair and how I looked and I heard one shout "Hey look! The Freak is here! Who has hair like that? Look at him! His clothing is horrible as well! Did mom and dad leave you because of what they had created?" His words were empty to me of course and I heard the class whisper more and more rumors about how I looked like an absolute monster.
I didn't let it go to my head until my crush entered the classroom, She had elegant black hair that flowed to her back, coffee eyes complete with an amazing tanned skin. Her figure wasn't perfect to most, but it was to me, it didn't matter what she looked like because she was a beauty to me and me only. She had on a gray T-shirt and some short, short shorts. Then I heard it loud and clear from her mouth "That freak of nature is atrocious, someone should kill it."
I lost that last bit of hope left in my heart, the voices got louder and louder in my head, then it all stopped. I wasn't in the classroom anymore, instead I was on the street, Jet and Azure lagging behind me as we walked across the street.
"Did you hear what happened to Lavender?" Jet asked, he had brought up the same topic as last time.
"Yeah, you started dating her am I right?" Azure joked as Jet gave him a glare, I laughed at his joke.
Then I heard an alarming sound as a car honked at us and crashed into my friends and I. I saw my friend's faces one last time before it all went black and I heard the words once more "Someone should kill it."
I darted up from my slumber, a light sheen of sweat covered my body. I looked around as the sun shone from the window. I searched around for the clock. 10:42. I had a few more minutes before I would be outta this place and into the academy. I lay in bed, contemplating my dream until the doctor came in and did some final tests on me. He said I was good to go as he gave me crutches to use. I gleefully got up and 'walked' around using my crutches. He gave me some new clothes, a note on top saying 'From Jet -you owe me'. I rolled my eyes as I sat down and dressed up in my new outfit. My clothing now consisted of a black and red varsity jacket, My yellow dress shirt, dark blue jeans and yellow converse-like shoes.
"Thanks Doc," I thanked as I started to move out of the hospital, which is conveniently really close to the academy, I moved along the sidewalk to Beacon, looking around the place. Many bookstores, café's, dust shops and much more lined along the streets. It was fairly busy and people were using phone like devices called 'Scrolls' as they walked and talked. From what I saw there was barely any cars or trucks in the area which is quite unusual if you were from an urban city like me. I soon moved along and into Beacon, Ozpin at the gate.
"Hello Crimson, I'm sure you've heard of me." He greeted with a cup of coffee in his hand. He had his standard outfit on. He handed me a Scroll, I assumed it was for the lock for the dorm. I wonder if I could get apps on it.
"Yes, if I may ask where are we going to go?" I asked him hesitantly.
"Your dormitory of course. Come on, let's go." He answered as he took a long sip of his coffee and we walked along the road, I saw many students and their weapons. Some of them were sparring and I thought about what I would be doing in class and how I would do on the tests. Ozpin interrupted my thoughts.
"So, Your real name is Crimson Clarenz Wake?" Ozpin asked, I winced a little when he said my middle name, I hate that name. It didn't sound right, and that demon called me that instead of my first name, my REAL name.
"Yes, just don't use my middle name please." I asked politely, trying my best not to break composure as he gave me a nod.
"Alright, we have arrived by the way. Make sure to think up some strategies your teams can use. " He ordered as he left the dormitory.
I entered the dorm and looked for my room, it was on my scroll. When I had found it and unlocked the door my heart almost stopped.
"Surprise!" The group shouted at me. Team RWBY, JNPR and my team were all there. Ruby had a plate of cookies in her hands as well, I grinned at my friends as I took a cookie and entered the room. It was a fairly basic room, It wasn't customized at all, just 4 beds and 1 bathroom. I layed down on the soft bed as I happily gobbled down my cookies.
"So, what are we up to today?" I asked as I started to stuff myself with more cookies.
"Today, we will start work on your weapon." Ruby replied.
"Really? Sweet!" I said excitedly, I was hyped for this moment. I already had this planned out. I was ready.
"Weiss and I will be helping you" Ruby added. Weiss? It was a little bittersweet then, I mean Ruby's cool and all, I'm sure she is capable of teaching me alone, just me and her. You know what let's bring along Weiss also, she can kill the vibe for me.
"Sweet, did Jet get his weapon made yet?" I asked curiously.
"Of course!" He exclaimed as he unsheathed his weapon, a jet black katana with a white handle. The blade had a dragon etched into the surface of the blade, the guard seemed to be made of gold as it was shaped like a basic circle, the holster is a dark black with gold symbols etched into it. Jet must've gone all out on this piece."It's name is Yami no ha, which translates to Blade of Darkness. Kinda matches me doesn't it?"
"How long did it take you?" I asked, ignoring his obvious question.
"Around 8-9 days, The etching was a pain though. You won't believe how precise I had to be to add the designs, the symbols on side say WAV and my hand still hurts from etching" Jet replied with a slight pout.
"Azure, you are a lucky one. You don't have to choose just one weapon." I said with envy as Azure snorted
"Of course, your semblances are all inferior!" He announced… In front of everyone… The whole room looked, no glared at him as he cowered back. I assumed Jet used his semblance of his as Azure fell to his knees.
"I was just joking! Yeah! Just joking! Please don't kill me..." Azure cowered. We softened our glares as we got back into the main subject.
"So, When do we start production on my weapon?" I asked Ruby, I looked around for any extra sweets or food that was made for me, finding a small chocolate cake on the table across from the bed. I stood up using my crutches for support and scavenged to find a plate, shortly after I found myself gobbling it down just as I did with the cookies.
"We can start after you finish your cake." Ruby said as the rest of the group cut up the cake and ate it with me.
"This is great! Who made the amazing cake?" I inquired as I chomped down on another piece of cake. It tasted just right, enough chocolate to be tasty but not too much to the point it was unbearable.
"I made the cake for you, you idiot." Weiss insulted. That's one way to answer a question. Why is she always so hostile? I mean, I barely spoke a few sentences to her. Then again I spoke some unsavory words to her as well.
"Well, it's delicious Weiss. Can we talk a little bit after you eat that piece of cake? You know, privately?" I asked her, I had to resolve her hostility with me.
"Fine." She answered simply as Azure and Jet walked up to me.
"Go get em' tiger" Jet whispered in my ear as Azure patted my back. Those bastards. I enjoyed the rest of the cake I had on the plate, Weiss makes the best cakes hands down, but Ruby makes the best cookies. Which one is superior? Cake has the flavour and complexity but Cookies have simplicity and crunch. Shortly after I found that I was being tugged by my jacket outside of the room by Weiss, I barely caught up using my crutches.
"So, What did you want to talk to me about?" Weiss questioned as she looked down a little, I pulled her head to reach my level as I spoke.
"Can we stop insulting each other? We will have to work as a team and trust each other if we want this to work out." I asked of her, perhaps we can end this now and we can focus on being a team.
"O-of course, I'm sorry that I treated you the way I did, I-I mean I didn't mean to toss you off into your death, I mean. Ugh, this is hard to say." Weiss apologized, she seemed a little tense and her head was down once more, I did the same thing I did as before as I forced her to look into my eyes.
"It's fine, I said some pretty harsh words also. Let's just put this in the past and work at it a little at a time. I know you're not a bad person and I'm sure it wasn't your fault I fell down anyways, I jumped on it and launched myself. Also you make really good cakes so that puts you pretty high in my friend book." I explained, I took a little step back as she offered me her hand, presumably for a handshake, Instead of going for the handshake I hugged her, Weiss Schnee. What's worse is what utters out my big mouth.
"You seem a little tense, relax alright? Make sure you become a great huntress but also make sure you have great friends. I'll be there for you if anything goes wrong okay?" I offered, I felt her nod her head as I broke off the hug and crutched back into the room as I breathed heavily. What was I doing? Hugging a Schnee? What kind of death did I want? Oh and my words, 'I'll be there for you.' What is this, an anime?
"Soooooo, What did you guys talk about?" Jaune asked, sweat dripping down from his forehead.
"I just asked her to stop insulting me. We need to have complete trust in each other if I'm tactician." I explained to Jaune, leaving out the last part of my talk with Weiss.
"Then why is she like that?" Azure pointed towards Weiss only to see her shaking a little with a small blush on her face. Welp R.I.P me. This is it, I wonder what kind of food heaven has.
"What did you do to her?, did you talk some weird stuff to her? I mean look at her, she's actually shaking in her boots! You monster!" Nora ranted as I got a little ticked at the word monster.
"Alright, alright! I may have pulled her into a hug…" I whispered the last part, barely audible to me.
"What was that Crimson?" Yang asked as I noticed that her gauntlets were ready to go.
"I said I pulled her into a hug and whispered some choice words!" I basically screamed as everyone gave me a look, that look you know? That look that someone gives you when you do something unexpected. It seemed like time stopped as everyone stopped moving.
"So, uh. What kind of 'choice' words did you say?" Jet asked, of course it was my good old buddy Jet to break the silence.
"Let's just say it involved "I'll be here for you" somewhere in the sentence" I answered as Jaune just about fainted and Weiss ran away into team RWBY's room in embarrassment as I myself ran into one of the beds and hid under the covers.
"Hehehehehehe, I guess that settles it. You two lovebirds you," Azure said, thanks Azure, you're the real MVP in fact how about I just give you 2 MVPS in the face.
"Does that mean I have to stop making cookies for you?" Ruby asked as I shot up from the bed and got onto my knees, unimaginable pain emanated from my casted leg, but that didn't matter right now.
"Please don't stop making cookies for me! I need them to live!" I begged in horror in the realization that there would be no more cookies. Everyone laughed in my shame as everyone started to funnel out the room, I followed Ruby out as I was going to start making my weapon. Hopefully Weiss won't kill me before then.
"Ruby, Where are we going to get the materials I need for my weapon?" I questioned Ruby.
"Well first we need to talk about your weapon first, what do you wanna make?" Ruby followed up as she opened the door to her team's room as I saw Weiss on her bed reading a book.
"Hey, Weiss do you still wanna help me out in making the weapon or no?" I asked. She might not want to after what I did to her.
"Of course, just don't do it again okay?" Weiss requested as I nodded gleefully, I get to live for a few more years. As for my weapon, I'll have to scrap the 3-blade idea. That would weigh me down.
"Anyways, I want to make a katar with shotgun shells that can be fired from them." I explained.
"How long are the blades?" Weiss interrogated, I thought about for a bit. Would 30cm be enough? Maybe a little longer like 45cm. Nah, let's go all in with 60cm.
"60 cm blade and about 3 mm thickness for the blade blade and 7cm wide at the base" I explained to her.
"I can help you out with the shotgun shell feature of your weapon while Weiss helps you out with the blades." Ruby said as we headed out. Where, you ask? I don't know.
I followed her, she was leading me out of Beacon. Weiss was trailing behind me as we left the property. I was lead into town and shortly after found a shop labelled 'Materials of Dust'. The outside was a fairly plain section, beige walls with no interesting designs and 2 large windows showcasing some weird material. I walked through the aisles and aisles of material I could choose from. I wanted something light but durable. I need the katar to be light to dodge any incoming attacks that I can predict.
"What would you recommend for a material for my katars? I want them to be lightweight." I asked one of the store employees. Hopefully he had an answer.
"Hmmm, I would recommend a steel alloy, they can be as durable and light as you can get." He suggested as he pointed into the steel alloy aisle.
"Alright, thank you!" I thanked as I crutched over to view the metal.
"You know you could have just asked one of us." Weiss said
"Whoops, my bad. Anyways which one do you think would work for the katar?" I questioned as I pointed to the metal available.
"They're all the same so just choose a color you like, like yellow for instance." She answered, I looked at a piece of yellow steel alloy. I had no clue how it got that colour, but I was taking it. It was a light chiffon colour I took two since I need to make 2 katar blades.
I proceeded to grab some plain steel alloy for the handles, Ruby had grabbed some shotgun ammo. I started to think about how I would build it.
"You can use the Dustnet to help figure out how you are going to make this katar of yours, There won't be any needed transformation." Ruby interjected, reading me like a book. What kind of magic powers did she have? I nodded back.
"Wait who is paying for all of this?" I asked, It couldn't be me I had no Lien to speak of, We had approached the cashier and I dropped the s-bomb.
"Me of course." Weiss answered as she pulled out some Lien. Must be cool living in such a big dollar family.
"Anyways, I gotta go. Good luck with the weapon. I'll help out tomorrow." She encouraged as she strut off.
We paid for the items as we left the store. I kept following Ruby as she led me in another direction than towards Beacon.
"Ruby where are we going?" I questioned as we went along the pavement.
"To the forge, I know a guy who can lend us the place." Ruby replied, how can I be that dumb? We approached a well-loved place, the outside was not pristine but it gave me the vibe of a well loved home. It was the same beige coloured walls but there were no windows. Ruby then opened the door.
"Luna! Can we borrow the place again?" Ruby shouted into the small room. The room itself was filled with various tools, anvils and machines. It was fairly dirty, but it was as suspected. It's a blacksmith's place after all.
"Sure, let me just get the place set up." A voice I assumed was Luna responded. Quickly after a woman a few years older than us stepped out of the back counter door. Her hair was absolutely gorgeous, an intense indigo which was done up in a bun, she was wearing a red apron and a white button up dress shirt with some capri's. Her eyes were was blue as midnight and she had a motherly grin on her face.
"So Ruby, who's the handsome guy?" Luna questioned as I gave her a smirk, feels great to be complemented by her. She was also quite the looker. Ruby didn't give an answer, weird.
"The name's Crimson, Crimson Wake." I introduced, attempting a bow but shortly after losing balance. Dang crutches. I fell on the floor as Ruby offered a hand which I gratefully accepted as she giggled a little. How cute.
I saw Luna turning on the machines and such, we went on a crash course through safety and blah blah blah. As soon as she stopped talking I rushed over to examine all the machines, I probably looked like a kid in a candy store. Ruby gazed at me with amusement as she calmly walked over to make sure I didn't kill myself. I worked rigorously throughout the week, I did all the necessary school work as I barely passed the tests that I was forced to write. I have no clue how Azure and Jet breezed past those tests without studying. Everyday has the same schedule, go to the lectures, go to the forge, go to sleep. Repeat, until finally a friday dawned, at the same day I had finished my masterpiece. The handles had cloud engravings whilst the blade had wings engraved into them. The handle was painted a solid white but the blade was still the chiffon colour.
I dubbed it ''Caelum Exacuere'.
