Hello again, I do apologize for posting this on a Monday. I aim for a the weekends to post, I don't know why I just do. Anyhow, I would like to say thank you from, the bottom of my heart too you for taking the time for reading it. Rather you love it, hate it, or think its meh, thank you for taking the time to read it. Now, please enjoy the new chapter and I see ya next time.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY Or the Dark Souls series.
Ruby sat at table with her team, all of them silent looking at their meals as if they were gonna get up and walk away. The event of the previous day was still crossing their minds. To them it felt, unreal in since that it almost seamed like a dream, but they knew it wasn't.
"Hey guys," a boy's voice greeted with a yawn.
They snapped out of their thoughts, some blinked to refocus the others shook their heads in a slight, quick motion. They looked meet their morning greeters. On the other side of the table was a boy with short blond hair with eyes that looked half a sleep. Next to him was a girl, with red hair in a pony tail. She was more a morning person than her friend was by mile, she greeted team RWBY with a warm "good morning" smile as she and the boy sat down at the table.
"Oh, morning Jaune. Morning Pyrrha." Ruby greeted back trying to conjure up a grin.
"So, how did your training go yesterday?" Pyrrha asked as she unfolded a napkin and placed it on her lap.
The girls looked at each other for a moment until Weiss spoke up.
"It was..." Weiss paused for a literal second, "fine, right guys?" she asked her team.
"Oh, yeah it went okay." Yang added with two thumps up, "It went without a cinch"
Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other with a questioning gaze, then tuned their attention back to the four girls.
"Well, what happened?" Jaune questioned, "What did you guys do?"
"Uhh..." Ruby began as she poked her two index fingers together.
"We had a few bad experiences," Blake interrupted, "we don't want to talk about." Blake lied as she hid her face behind her book. Well not talking about it was true. She thought back to what Ozpin had said when they were at the hospital.
"He did what?" Ozpin asked as he narrowed his eyes over his specs.
"He, could throw fireballs and shoot fire like a flamethrower from his hands." Ruby recalled, "It's so cool I think it's his semblance?"
"What really concerned me," Weiss started, "was how appeared in front of us and those, things he was fighting."
Ozpin took a sip from his coffee as before he spoke. "Girls, I am gonna have to have keep this, under wraps for a while. At least until I deem him no threat. Now, go back to the school and remember, not a word." Ozpin then walked down the hallway towards Glynda who was waiting for him at the other end.
In a moment, a loud and quick crash at the table startled the six students.
"Good morning!" a girl with orange hair sang out in a cheery way.
"Nora," Jaune began as he grabbed his chest over his heart, "you scared us."
"Oh, sorry, heh heh." she chuckled.
Following behind Nora was a boy with black hair in a long ponytail and a pink streak in the front of his hair. He sat down and straightened out before greeting everyone at the table.
"Good morning everyone." she said in a calm tone.
"Hey Ren." Yang greeted in a more up-beat tone.
"So, did you guys see that we are getting a new student?" Ren asked not knowing that he had changed the topic. Team RWBY looked at him with eyebrows raised as high as their curiosity.
"New, student?" Blake asked.
Jaune nodded, "Yeah, the four of us were coming back from the library and saw staff moving some container in a room on the level below us."
The girls had a confused expression painted across their faces. It had nearly been a few weeks after they started the school year, so excepting new applications wouldn't happen for a long while.
"Do you think that they could be a transfer student?" Weiss questioned, she received some of them shrugging their shoulders unsure of why they would get a new student this early.
The sound of the P.A system rang throughout the dinning hall. The conversations of the students had fallen silent, awaiting the announcement.
"Attention:" a woman's voice spoke, "afternoon classes will be canceled on the account of a late initiation. The event will be broadcast in the auditorium, select classrooms and the cafeteria. That is all, have a great day." it finished as it clicked off.
"Oh, thank god for that." Yang sighed in relief with her hand over her chest, "I was not ready to take Oobleck's test today."
"Looks like we get to see who our new neighbor is." Pyrrha pointed out as she went back to eating her breakfast.
The sun was high in the sky as it beamed down on Kayne. He knelt down near the edge of a cliff, examining the long drop. He overlooked the forest that he first arrived in unknowing of how breath taking the view was and that how creatures of darkness that Ozpin had explained traversed it. He stood up and walked back towards Ozpin and Glynda who were waiting to begin. They noticed that his left hand would twitch in a violent manner. Ozpin noticed this as he watched Kayne make his way towards them.
"Are you alright Kayne?" Ozpin asked him in his mild tone.
Kayne raised an eyebrow to the question. Ozpin then pointed at Kayne's hand with a slight nod of his head. He looked down at his hands and noticed what Ozpin was getting at. He clenched his hand trying to get them to stop.
"I apologize." Kayne said with slight embarrassment, "I do not know why that happens, but it seems to happen when prowlers of the Abyss are near."
"I see. That's peculiar." Ozpin responded. "Are you ready to begin?" he asks.
"Yes." Kayne answered as he put his helmet on and the hood over it.
"Very well, please stand over there." Ozpin pointed to a strange platform. Kayne made his way over to the designated spot and awaited further orders. "Listen close, your objective is a relic inside an abounded temple north of here. Retrieve the relic and bring it back. You will be monitored through out the test."
"So don't do anything you'll regret." Glynda scowled at Kayne.
"Remember do not hesitate to destroy everything in you path, or you will die. Any questions?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes, how do I get down there, is there a lift somewhere?" Kayne questioned as he looked out into the distance.
Ozpin shook his, "No, let's just say that you have a good landing strategy."
"What does thou..." before Kayne could finish he heard a clank and the platform below him quickly sank slightly. He looked down and quickly shot his gaze at Ozpin. "You, bastard!" he screamed as he was launched into the air. Ozpin didn't react to the comment, he stood there drinking his coffee.
Kayne soar lopsided threw out the sky, screaming for a moment. He focused on the situation at hand, shifting his weight to straighten himself out. He was descending and fast, about to enter the canopy of the trees. He quickly devised a plan and took out his dagger. Stretching out his arm caught onto the trunk of a tree and spiraled downward, leaving deep gashes inside it. Finally, his feet hit solid ground and he followed through his landing by rolling, only to stop inches away from a large pointed branch.
Kayne sighed with relief and slowly stood up. He staggered around dizzy from the spinning cyclone he had just exited. He grabbed his forehead and shook his head to focus his vision.
"Is he mad!?" Kayne yelled in anger but he calmed himself down and remembered his quest and head north.
Ruby and her team headed into the auditorium to view the event that is soon to take place. Upon entering they spotted the four from JNPR and walked over to watch with them.
"Helloooe." Yang sang as she greeted the other four.
"Oh hey, you're just in time. It's about to start." Jaune replied.
"Yeah, I'm curious to see who will be joining us this year." Pyrrha said.
"Is it just one student?" Weiss asked, "If so they won't have a team and I don't think Ozpin will want a odd numbered team."
"How knows," Ruby inquired, "he might be a lone wolf addition to the school." Ruby joked with a chuckle.
"Either way, it will be interesting on how he does it." Blake added as the group nodded to her comment.
The holo-screen popped on and their attention was glued to it. It had a message, that read " Awaiting signal". They stood their, waiting for the image to display itself. "Signal acquired" the monitor read as it snapped to an image of three people; Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, and the new student who wore a long, worn out hooded coat.
"WHAT!" team RWBY shouted. Team JNPR looked at them in a confused manner.
"You guys okay?" Jaune asked as he stared at them with their mouth dropped to the floor. He looked at back at the giant screen and then back at them, "Do you know him?" They didn't respond, their attention was locked on to the image.
"What is he doing here?" Weiss broke the silence between the eight. The other three were still lost for words.
Ruby leaned into Yang and whispered in her ear, "I thought Ozpin wanted to keep this guy secret?"
"I thought so too." Yang whispered back.
The crowd of students began laughing causing the eight to turn back to the monitor. They saw the new student flying at an awkward angle through the sky. They watched in amazement, as he straightened himself out and used his dagger to latch onto a tree. He spiraled down and followed through with his landing.
"Better landing then what Jaune did." Nora joked.
"Hey, it was totally unexpected." he retorted.
"No, it wasn't." Yang teased, "Ozpin told you what would happen."
Don't worry about it now Jaune," Pyrrha comforted as she slapped him on the back, "at least you're alive."
Jaune looked down slightly embarrassed at the memory, "Yeah, good point."
With that they went silent and watched the initiation taking place to see what this new student has to offer.
Kayne traversed the dense forest in search for this goal. For the most part it felt peaceful, calm, almost as if there was nothing tainting the land. His senses knew better, he could feel the darkness surrounding him. He felt as if he was being hunted. He slowly made his way north scanning the area for anything that would wish to consume his life.
He brushed a few branches out his way and was met with sin sister growl coming from his left. Kayne slowly turned his head to see what the sound was emitting from. Before he could get a good look at the creature, it leaped at him with its jaw open. He quickly rolled out of the way and put his hand on the handle of his sword and the other hand on his dagger. He saw what he was up against, a wolf like creature covered in fur as dark as the Abyss itself. A white bone like armor covered its face and white spikes on its back and limbs. Its bright red eyes peering into his soul.
"What part of the Abyss did thee crawl out of?" he asked.
The beast stood on its hind legs and let out an ear shattering howl. Kayne leaped at the creature, somersaulting mid-air and sliced the beast in half. Kayne stood up and flung the residue of the monster off his blade.
"Not much to thee is there?" he remarked, "A wolf huh? Normally they travel in..." he was cut off by the sound of not so distant howls, "packs.". He turned to see three more of the same creature jump out and surrounded him. One of the three was larger than the rest, "Thou must be the pack leader."
Kayne got into his stance and got low to the ground, his knees to his chest. He waited patiently as the beasts encircled him. Then, the bigger of the two barked and the two charged at Kayne. Kayne leaped in the air causing the two to miss him. He landed a few feet away from them, still in his crouched stance. The beast charged once more and jumped for Kayne. Kayne knocked the beast away and slashed at the one behind it. The one in the back jumped back from the strike and slowly moved to the right.
The one that was knocked away came back and started to slash with its claws at Kayne. He back stepped while dogging the strikes causing the beast to miss. On the last step he dug his sword into the ground, lifted himself up and kicked the beast in the chest with both his legs. He quickly spun to face the one trying to sneak up on him. As he turned, the beast nearly got the drop on him. Kayne stuck his dagger into the jugular of the beast causing it to fall to the ground. Kayne then ripped the dagger out and slashed his sword upwards, kicking up dirt and the body of the wolf.
The last small wolf began to back away slowly as Kayne walked towards it. Kayne stopped for a second before he charged in a full on sprint. The beast did the same and lunged at Kayne, but he sidestepped to the right and began to slash with his sword as if it weighed nothing. After the barrage of steel the beast stood still in place for a moment before it fell into several small pieces. Kayne looked at the alpha, pointed his sword at it and brought his dagger over his right arm.
The large wolf furiously made its way over to Kayne running at its top speed. Kayne stood his ground, not fazed by the large beast's speed. He put his dagger away and reared his hand as it caught fire. A large fire ball with a ring of fire spinning around it formed and he threw it, hitting the beast's face causing it to stop. It roared in anguish, trying to shake the blazing pain that had hit it, Kayne leaped at the beast he dug his dagger into the ground and used his momentum to turn and strike with his weapon. The first strike cut the beast's hind legs off. The second took its front as Kayne slightly hopped with the dagger closer to and swung his sword. Kayne then jumped in the air spun around and decapitated its head.
Kayne stood victorious as he extinguished the flame in his hand and strapped his sword on his back. He looked down at the deceased wolf and watched as it began to fade to a black dust that would flow with the wind.
"So, these are the creatures of Grimm." he said to himself, "Entertaining but not a threat to me.". He made his way north to complete his quest and duty to Ozpin.
"He has an interesting fighting style." Pyrrha began, "I'll give him that."
They watched as the new arrival fended off four Beowolves by himself without any trouble. Witnessing how he brutality cut the beasts up.
"He's so...violent." Weiss added on.
"Fast too." Blake added as well.
"His sword looks really cool." Ruby squeaked in excitement, "He's swinging it like its nothing, the dagger looks weird but if it works, it works.". The fighting mesmerized her, forgetting her worries about the stranger that had fought those dark soldiers.
They watched as he summoned a large fireball from his hand and threw it at the alpha. Following that was the amputation of its legs and the decapitation of the head.
"He's got a cool semblance." Jaune commented.
Weiss and Blake look each other with concern and slight disgust to how he mutilated the large creature. They didn't say a word, their eyes expressed their thoughts. They turned back to view what he would do next in his test.
Ozpin and Glynda watched Kayne as he made his way to the temple on their scrolls.
"He does have extraordinary skill to be a huntsman, I'll give him that." Glynda said with very little praise, "But I still feel something odd from that boy. Oz?" she turned to Ozpin who was glued to his scroll.
Ozpin skipped to the cameras around the temple, "Looks like he's gonna have an unwanted guest." Ozpin said.
Kayne brushed the low hanging branches from the tall trees out his way. He kept moving in the direction he was told in hopes that he would find this temple. He moved through tall thick bushes and was met with old looking ruins.
"This must be the temple." Kayne said to himself, "Almost reminds me of Farron's Keep." He scanned the temple ruins from top to bottom. As he observed, he noticed a black mass at the center of the temple. He got low the ground, moving as silent as possible not to disturb the resting beast. As he grew closer he noticed it looked like a large bear with fur as black as the wolves, with patchy white spines. Behind it were objects that sat on stone pedestals. "There." he whispered.
Kayne's objective was right in front of him with the bear between them. He looked around his surroundings to make sure he wouldn't have any unwelcome guest. He confirmed that no one or thing will intervene and drew out one of his throwing knives.
With a quick flick of his wrist he threw the knife at the beast, lodging it between two pieces of its white, bone armor. The beast groaned and stood up as quickly as it could on its hind legs and looked for who disturbed its slumber. Kayne came bursting from the shadows dragging his sword on the ground. When he was close he swung his sword up at the beast but it deflected his strike with its claw.
Kayne rolled to the side after his attempt to strike had failed. He ran for the beast for another strike but the beast slammed the ground causing a shock wave. Kayne was struggled to keep his balance, sticking his greatsword in the ground to keep him from falling. After the shaking was over and done he snapped his head up only to see the paw of the close to his face. Kayne was hit with such force that he broke through a pillar. He shook his head to straighten his vision and slowly began to stand. He could hear and feel the ground shake as he knew the beast was coming for him.
The bear had its head lowered as it charged and tried to ram into Kayne. Kayne was able to avoid the charge making the bear to crash into the side of a small hill that overlooked the temple. It hit the wall so hard that it left a mark in the hill, it quickly turned to Kayne as if it felt no pain. Kayne looked for his sword, spotting it he ran for it but the bear was fast approaching. He was less than a foot from his sword when looked over his shoulder to see the bear jump at him. Kayne quickly rolled backwards under the beast. The beast must have swung in attempt to hit Kayne for when looked up the sword was further away than before. He unleashed a barrage of fireballs at the bear. It flinched at the heat that struck it, but was only angered more.
Kayne drew his dagger and raised his fists. It charged and Kayne didn't move from his spot. When it was close, Kayne delivered a kick to the skull of the creature that threw it off course. The beast stood on its back two legs and swung its large paws at Kayne. He would bob and weave the strikes while he would deliver some of his own. He punched, kicked, and even slashed at its limbs with his dagger. The bear went to slam both of its paws at Kayne but he avoided it easily by gliding in sidestep behind the creature.
In a swift motion, Kayne gashed out chunks of the bear's ankles causing it to fall to the ground. It howled in pain as it tried to stand but to no avail. Kayne went to grab his sword leaving the bear writhe in pain. He strapped his sword back on and walked back to the injured bear. Kayne raised his hands back and dug his nails into the beast's chest and pumped flames into it. It howled even more as Kayne had the upper hand and the final move. Flames erupted from inside it, blowing out its mouth, nostrils, and eyes. Its cry has ceased.
"More trouble than those wolves." he commented with annoyance.
Kayne withdrew his hands, he looked at them as they were covered in a dark red fluid. It appeared to be blood but was to dark and began to dissolve into the air with burning hiss. Kayne straitened himself out and walked over to the center of temple, surrounding himself with the relics. Before him were six black pieces: one was basic with a round top; the next looked like tower of a castle; two looked like the crowns of a king and queen. Following relic had what look like the hat of a pontiff. The last one was that of a head of a horse.
"He did not say there would be more than one." he gritted, "Might as well pick one."
He thought for quiet a while, trying to figure out which to pick. He pondered at his choices but his attention slowly turned to the horse relic as if it was calling for him. He walked over to it and stared at it for a moment. He when to grab it confident that this was the one he needed to bring back.
"What is so spacial about these relics?" he questioned as he examined the horse piece, "I suppose I'll take thee." he pocketed the piece, "Now, time to have a council with the old man."
The students clapped at the performance they had just witnessed. Most students were amazed at how he was able to fight creatures of Grimm all by himself. However, they were all unable to see which of the six relics he had chosen. They could only see him leave the temple and make his way back to the starting spot.
"What is his?" Blake asked slightly shocked to what she and the others had just witnessed.
"No, clue" Ruby answered not looking away from the screen, "but I'm glad he's on our side."
"I hope he is." Weiss added, "Fighting Grimm is one thing but other huntsman and huntresses is a different story."
"Oh don't judge him so early." Yang spoke up, "Besides, he still owes us a thank you for saving him."
Pyrrha looked over at team RWBY, "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Oh, uhh, you see..." Ruby struggled to saw anything.
"We'll tell you later." Yang interrupted to Ruby's rescue and turned their attention back to the monitor.
Kayne had finally arrived at the spot he had started at. Near the platforms stood Ozpin and Glynda, awaiting for his return. Kayne clenched his fists and gritted his teeth with anger and began to hastily walk towards them. He saw Glynda react to his movements but Ozpin did not move.
"Are thou mad?!" Kayne shouted at the two. "Was that really necessary?!"
"Welcome back." Ozpin said in his calm tone. "Did you retrieve the relic?"
Kayne gave out a sigh and reached into his pouch and pulled out the objective, "Yes, I hope this was the correct one." He handed Ozpin the relic and saw Ozpin smirk, "Am I incorrect then?"
Ozpin shock his head, "No, this will do. Come, we must return to the school."
Kayne nodded and they began to make their way back to the bullhead but Kayne suddenly stopped and looked out to the forest. Ozpin and Glynda stopped as they heard Kayne's footsteps stop.
"Is ever thing alright?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes, everything is fine." he said as he turned towards them. They nodded and began to lead the way once more. "Please be the wind." he begged in a whisper and his left hand began to twitch.
He sat upon his stone throne that overlooked the rest. His face covered by a silver mask resting in the palm of his hand on the arm rest of the throne. A woman in black dress stood next to it her arms crossed as she took looked down the other four thrones. Below them were small number of their hollow undead soldiers and subordinates from the Abyss.
"Are thee bored mi lord?" the woman asked as she looked up at him. "Thou hath been silent for quite a while."
The Lord groaned in response, "This war has gone on far longer than I had wished. The resistance of these covenants are no more than a annoyance." He straightened himself in his stone throne, "Yuria, hath our scouts found the Fire Keeper yet?"
She shook her head, "No, the ones that return say they are getting closer but the encounters of ambushes slow progress."
"We need to find her and..." he was cut of by the sound of struggle and aggressive pleading. He looked down to see two knights in black armor dragging a man up the stars to the Lord.
"Release me now!" the man demanded but was ignored. As soon as they arrived at the foot of the throne they set him on his knees and held him up.
"What have we here?" the Lord asked in a sinister tone.
"We found this rat lurking around the shrine." one of the knights said, "He could be seeking the sword."
"Aahh, a scout of the meaningless resistance." he said as jumped down from his throne, "Is that true? Is that why thou hath cometh to my domain."
"You might as well kill me!" he shouted, "I am not going to tell ye a bloody thing."
"Come now, do not act like a hero. Thou are just a fool for coming here alone, so I will not kill you." the Lord grabbed the neck of the trapped man. "I am going to do much, worse, than kill you. I need information of the beloved Fire Keeper." he leaned in near his ear, "I will break you." he whispered. He walked back to his throne.
"Take him to the Irithyll dungeon." Yuria commanded.
The man struggled to break free but to no avail, "I will not be broken!" he shouted before one of the knights rendered him unconscious with a shield to the back of his head.
"We shall see." replied the Lord, "Have our scouts returned to where the Madge sensed new light?" With that that a light emitted from beside his throne and blue cloaked figure emerged.
"No, sire." the scrawny figure hissed, "For they are pass due."
"Ah...Jacques welcome. Does thee know what happened?"
Jacques nodded behind his long hood that covered his face, "The mage that accompanied them, spoke to me through sorcery and told me that the Darkwraiths where dispatched."
"How did he survive the quarrel?" the Lord asked.
"He hid in the shadows, we mages do not fair to well in close combat. Besides, he was there only way back." Jacques paused for a moment, "He also tells me that the one who dispatched them was a hooded man in black armor and that he ascended from the ground in fire and ash."
The Lord clenched his fist, he knew who was there to take care of his Darkwraiths. "I see. We must find the Fire Keeper. Jacques we have work we must plan further."
Ruby and her team entered the elevator on there way up to Ozpin's office.
"Why do you think he wanted to see us in his office?" Ruby asked nervously.
"Not sure." Yang answered.
"You don't think it has something to do with the one we found yesterday, do you?" Blake asked as she adjusted her bow on her head.
Weiss was quiet the whole ride up as she was deep in thought as to why Ozpin would have beckoned them. Maybe he found out that they let it slip on who he was some how. No, who would he have known that, it has to be something else.
The lift had come to a halt and the metallic doors slid open. Ozpin was sitting at his desk with Glynda standing next to him. They began to make their way towards him, they could feel tension for some reason. Maybe they were just nervous and they had nothing to worry about.
Ruby cleared her throat before she spoke, "You called for us Professor?"
"Yes," he began, "I have asked for you to be here for an important matter that we must atone to." He sipped his coffee, "I'm safe to assume that you saw the late initiation, yes?"
"Yeah, I don't think anyone in the academy missed it."
Ozpin gave a chuckle, "Yes, I suppose you're right. Anyhow, that is what I would like to talk to you about." The girls allowed him to continue, "Are you aware of which relic he has chosen?" they shook their heads. Ozpin reached in a drawer and pulled out the relic, placing it gently on the desk. "He had chosen the Knight piece."
Weiss shot her head up, "Wait does that mean..?"
"I would like for you to welcome the new addition to team RWBY, Kayne." he said as he held his hand out pointing in the direction of a sleeping man against a pillar. " ." he shouted in a low rumble.
Kayne jolted awake and looked around his surroundings. He stood up when he saw the six in front of him. He approached them, "My apologizes." he looked over to the four girls and shot his gaze immediately to Ozpin. "Professor who are these four?" he asked in a semi hushed tone.
"Kayne, these are the girls that you saved and also saved you." Ozpin pointed out for Kayne to understand. "And they are your new team mates."
"What!?" the four said at the same time.
"Beg pardon!?" Kayne asked along with them.
Ozpin sipped his coffee and thought to himself, 'My, this will be interesting.'