RWBY
The Strength of Revenge
Chapter 2 – Volume 1 – Chivalry In Disguise
After watching the beautiful Yang Xiao Long walk off the arena after a very quick and very clearly unfair fight, Ebris smiled quietly to himself as he leaned against the tribunes behind him.
"That Yang… She's powerful indeed" He mumbled silently "I wonder… What kind of training has she done to become that powerful?"
"Meh, not anything specific" A loud and joyful voice said from behind him, startling him slightly "Just a bit hardheaded is all"
He looked up over his shoulder, and widened his eyes as he realized someone was standing behind him, namely Yang's younger sister, Ruby, standing behind him with a bright smile and her giant scythe over her shoulder.
"Hmm… Must be something else though" He said with a calculating tone "It's got something to do with her semblance, doesn't it?
"Yeah, it does" She smirked and let her scythe fold back into wearable form so she could strap it onto her back and sit down beside him "But I promised her not to tell you. She's looking forward to having a fair fight with you"
"Did she say that, or do you just know because she's a hothead?" He asked "I could practically feel her drill holes in my neck before she went to fight that guy"
He pointed down at the stadium where Yang's opponent was getting treatment, seeming woozy and dizzy. He never stood a chance, poor guy.
"A little bit of both, I guess" She laughed and smiled "Whenever she finds a powerful opponent, she gets too riled up for a fight with them and she often has way too much energy for her own good"
"Guess that's true"
A silence fell between them as they continued to watch the training students fight each other in the arena. Ebris hadn't talked to Ruby very often, only the occasional "Hey" as they passed each other in the halls, or a short conversation at lunch before they each went to hang out with their respective teams, or in Ebris case, alone.
But despite that, the silence that fell between them wasn't uncomfortable or awkward. Ebris had seen Ruby in battle, maybe only in the arena, but she was good. She had very unique abilities, abilities that might not have reached the surface, but hiding somewhere beneath, ready to come out when the time demanded it.
She and the rest of her team, team RWBY, were among of the more popular students at their current grade, both for their social standings and their skills in battle. Plus, he had heard several of the boys in class calling the four of them, namely Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss, the Battling Beauty Brigade. Many of the boys wanted to ask one of them out, and often dared each other to do so, but either they chickened out or were rejected outright. Poor Neptune. But that's what happens when you try and ask someone like the ice queen out.
Ebris remembered personally how Neptune had asked Weiss out, and she had gone so red in the head that Ebris was certain that Yang's semblance of fire had transferred to her somehow. A yell and a sprint later, and Weiss was gone, having ran away faster than possibly even Ruby while she used her Speed semblance.
"Yo Ruby, 10 bucks to tell me everything you know about Yang's fighting style" He gazed at her with a solemn look. He wanted to see what kind of strengths and weaknesses she possessed.
She eyed him suspiciously for a moment, probably intrigued by the idea, but Ebris was not sure if she would actually take the bait.
"Are you asking me to betray my own flesh and blood!?" She said, making a dramatic sweep with her arm "I am shocked!"
"That isn't a no" He said.
"Maybe not. Okay, but you'll have to owe me a favor!"
"Deal!"
"Whelp, guess I'm in for it now" He mumbled softly "Who knows what that Ruby girl was capable of conjuring in that mind of hers…"
He mumbled this to himself as he watched the clouds drift overhead. The fact that Yang usually had a hard time dealing with kick-based opponents, since she'd have to get up close and personal with her own techniques, didn't surprise him at all. A fighting style primarily based on kicks would keep a good distance between her and her opponent, while at the same time still doing more than enough damage.
"Hand to hand combat, huh? If I manage to keep a distance between us, I should be able to figure out her soft spots before she can do any real damage"
He chuckled quietly to himself as he gazed out over the courtyard of Beacon academy. This place didn't look half bad, but he didn't have much of an impression of the classes or any of the teachers since he hadn't been participating in classes yet. Besides maybe headmaster Ozpin, and Glenda Goodwitch the strict "magician", he had no idea what to think of this place yet.
He looked forward to finally starting classes and learning about the Grimm. As weird as it sounded, he found them fascinating. They were nothing but pure darkness and evil, and they were somehow attracted to emotions of fear and hatred. What made it so that they could feel fear? And how would he make sure that that ability was lost on them?
He had to put his train of thought on hold though, as he suddenly heard a soft cry. A yell.
"Stop it!"
He frowned silently as he stood up onto his feet, looking across all the space of the campus he could see from the top of the clocktower. Who had yelled? And what was the reason for the cry of help?
His frown deepened as he spotted the source of the yelling from around the base of the clocktower. Cardin and his group seemed to be bullying the faunus that resembled a bunny, Velvet Scarlatina, once again. They had all grouped up on her from all sides, and Cardin was laughing as he pulled at her ears.
Ebris absolutely despised Cardin. He only seemed to be around to cause dismay and harm, and wherever he were, chaos would follow. He was annoying, loudmouthed, obnoxious and an ass to anyone that wasn't in his little clique, or as Ebris called them, the personal "Cardin Fan club".
He huffed and stepped off the edge of the clocktower, slashing his daggers into the wall of the tower to slow his decent until he pulled them back out and landed in-between Cardin and Velvet, glaring at him with an angry expression.
"I ask you, and I ask you once" He said silently as he stood up proper "Leave Velvet alone"
Cardin just smirked and let go of Velvet's long bunny ear.
"Haha, and who are you to protect her, squirt?" He said with a smirk as he pushed Ebris' chest "You think you're something?"
Ebris just rolled his eyes and sighed silently as he stumbled backwards from the push. Cardin was perfect at playing the typical brawny jock guy, the one who always picked on the smallest in the crowd. Ebris wasn't one to be picked on though. That was over the moment he got the scar that currently covered must of his upper arm and chest.
Ebris was so focused on Cardin that he hadn't noticed that a small crowd of students had formed around them. He slowly drew his daggers.
"Last warning Cardin" He warned again, letting the sun's glow reflect off his blades and into Cardin's eyes to show them off "Back off"
"Or what?" He asked menacingly, pulling out his mace.
Ebris sighed again and shrugged a bit.
"Don't say I didn't warn you"
Cardin smirked and swung at him preemptively but Ebris ducked and jumped backwards, before dashing forward and slashing him a couple of times across the middle of his chest. Since Cardin's mace was fairly heavy he did not raise it in a block in time, and stumbled backwards from the attack, growling in anger.
"You're dead, you little punk!"
He yelled as he charged straight for Ebris, but Ebris suddenly vanished, leaving Cardin in a confused daze. He raised his mace in alarm, looking all around him cautiously.
"Let me ask you something, Cardin"
Cardin widened his eyes and whirled around, expecting to see Ebris right behind him, like his voice indicated. But Ebris was nowhere to be found.
"Are you used to getting everything you want?"
He whirled again, once again finding nothing. Strange. Ebris' voice kept calling out to him from right behind him, but he was never there in person.
"That's the only thing I can imagine making a person treat everyone else like his personal toys"
He growled and his grip instinctively gripped harder at his mace.
"Come out and face me, you little shit!"
He was growing frustrated. No matter what direction he looked, he couldn't see his opponent anywhere.
He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and he whirled around once again, and once again, nothing.
"Down here"
He looked down in realization, and widened his eyes as Ebris suddenly materialized in a black mist, before uppercutting him and making him fall to the ground, hard. Ebris just huffed silently and clenched his fist, looking down at his downed opponent.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!"
Suddenly the crowd around them dispersed, making way for Glenda Goodwitch who was stomping over to them with an angry expression.
"Fights on campus are strictly forbidden by school rules!" She yelled angrily as she pulled Cardin up with one strong tug "I honestly expected better things out of you!"
She frowned and looked up at Ebris, a disappointed expression crossing her features.
"Especially from you, Mr. Eacho"
Ebris just huffed and rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. He deserved it as far as I see it"
"I couldn't give a dead Grimm of whether he deserves it or not" Glenda said, pushing Cardin off her as he finally regained his balance "I'll see you both tomorrow after school for detention."
She left them both after breaking up the fight, and the crowd hurried to disperse so as to not piss off Ms. Goodwitch even more, the only people staying behind being Velvet, and Ren, Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha, who had all been watching the fight unfold from afar.
Cardin made sure to be the first to disappear, since Ms. Goodwitch possibly was the only person who could set him in his place. And Ebris couldn't help but smirk a bit as he watched Cardin stick his tail between his legs and scramble away. Uppercutting his stupid face felt really good to Ebris, weirdly satisfying.
Velvet looked at Ebris a bit nervously as she approached him.
"You didn't have to do that. I've dealt with their group before" She mumbled softly "Now you got detention because of me"
Ebris just smiled at her and shook his head.
"Don't worry. It's all good" He said with his smile growing on his face "Why is he picking on you?"
She shrugged a bit and began fiddling nervously with her fingers.
"I don't know. He keeps pulling my ears" She sniffled a little "Says it's because they look funny"
Ebris frowned a little and sighed as he patted her head gently.
"Just tell me if he begins picking on you again" he said softly. "I'll kick his sorry ass back to the stone age he so obviously came from"
Velvet giggled a bit and nodded softly.
"Thank you so much, uhm… uh…" She hesitated a little, since she didn't know his name.
"Ebris. Ebris Eacho" He smiled, offering his hand in a handshake.
"Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina"
Ebris smiled and shook her hand.
"Well Velvet, we should probably hurry because uhh…" He gazed at the clocktower "We have about 20 seconds before Ms. Goodwitch gives all of us detention for skipping class"
Several yells could be heard nearby.
"WHAT!? No! I can't get tardiness marks again!" Jaune yelled as he began to run across campus.
"jaune wait up!"
The rest of his team, Velvet and Ebris, ran after Jaune as quickly as they could. Ebris looked over at Pyrrha as they booked it.
"I'll create an illusion and distract Glenda!" he yelled to her "You just focus on getting everyone to class in time!"
"What about you!?" Pyrrha said as they ran.
"I'm not assigned to a team or class yet, so I'm fine!" He yelled back "Just make sure that Ren, Nora and especially Jaune, gets to class in time!"
She nodded and used her semblance, to grab hold of everyone's magnetic equipment, and speed them up temporarily. Meanwhile, using his own semblance, Ebris created his illusion clone, and used one eye to watch it begin to distract Glenda as she walked through the halls, and the other to see where he was going.
"So Glenda, what does it take to get extra curriculum in your classes?" his afterimage asked as he leaned against a wall in Glenda's path.
Glenda was looking into a scroll-pad and didn't even lift her gaze as she walked straight past the clone he had created, quickly making him lose faith in his ability to distract.
"Go to classes on time, take notes, and work till you deserve those curriculums" She stated, in no way slowing down on the way to class "Certainly not by acting like you did earlier with Mr. Winchester"
"And I totally understand that, but Cardin deserved it!" he insisted as he walked alongside her, getting too close to class for comfort "He was picking on Velvet! That is not okay!"
This actually made Glenda turn to look at his clone.
"And you want to solve violence with more violence?"
"Okay to be fair, I gave him several warnings which he decided to ignore" Ebris retaliated, making Glenda sigh and put her glasses back in place.
"Listen Mr. Eacho, you have a good heart" She said, less stern than normal "But I will not accept violence on my campus, hiding behind the excuse of being chivalrous"
"Huh!? Excuse me?"
He hadn't meant to raise his voice against his professor, but hearing this by one of his peers somehow ticked him off.
"Mr. Eacho, I've been teacher for children your age for several decades" she said with a stern look "You learn to see through people when your job is literally to be around young individuals like yourself all day.
I'm not saying that helping Ms. Scarlatina wasn't a part of it, but I know for a fact that you despise Mr. Winchester with a passion. Not that it isn't slightly justifiable. But I know that you in all secrecy were waiting for an opportunity to, and pardon my French, "Kick Cardin's ass".
You were eager to get to fight him during sparring today, and got disappointed when you didn't get to. I also noticed how you keep having these impromptu value-measuring contests with him whenever you bump into him in the halls. Cardin picks on everyone, but he sees you as a rival. Someone he has to surpass to feel validated. And his general attitude towards others ticks you off."
Ebris was about to object, but was cut off by Glenda's continued speech.
"What I'm trying to say is, that I know why you are trying to prove yourself, by beating him in physical combat. Not proving yourself to anyone else, but to yourself, that you've gotten stronger. But strength as a huntsman means more than just being good at throwing fisticuffs at your opponent. It craves mental strength, something you might not be the best at considering your background"
He growled annoyed. He didn't need anyone to remind him of his past. Certainly not this bitch who had lived happily all her life, as far as he was concerned.
"Just remember to train your mental state as well" Glenda warned, before turning back towards the direction of the classroom "You of all people should know that there exists ways to manipulate the mind in battle. And if you want strength, don't use others to prove it to yourself"
He frowned and gazed away, refusing to look at the professor as she began walking again. He was sure that he had distracted her long enough for the others to reach the classroom without having to worry about any detention time.
Without another word he let his illusion shatter and let his gaze fall. He had fallen behind the others far beforehand, leaving him as the only occupant of the hall.
"My mental training huh?"
He mumbled this softly. Glenda had hit her head on the nail. He needed validation to at least know he was improving. Instead he got a full on spout about how he needed to focus more on mental enhancement and boosting his mental defenses. What would that help though against mindless destructive beasts such as the Grimm? He didn't get it.
"I'll show you mental training" He growled, as he marched back towards the training grounds.
"hmm… very interesting"
Ozpin smiled and couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the young students scatter like insects across campus, each of them headed to their designated classrooms. He noticed how quickly Ebris was teaming up with Pyrrha and forming a plan on how to get to their classes before their teacher, and he marveled happily as he realized how quickly and effectively he and Pyrrha worked together.
"Hmm… Maybe team JNPR can accept another member?"
"why is that of any importance right now, Ozpin?"
Ozpin smiled up at General Ironwood that was gazing down at him with a steely expression from the computer console above his desk.
"Of course it's important, Ironwood" He insisted "The subject being so fragile makes him in need of a stable environment"
"Talking about that, how is project Tenebris coming along?"
"I can't say for sure yet. It has only been a few days after all" Ozpin said as he calmly took a sip of his warm coffee mug "Give it some time. If we're patient, I can guarantee a good result"
"Just be careful with that subject, Ozpin" Ironwood said with a worried frown "They're the culmination of over ten years of grimm research. If this fails, I'll have the entire board on my ass for weeks"
"Just give me time, Ironwood" Ozpin smiled patiently and looked back out of his office window "Rome wasn't built in one day."
He pressed a button at his mic and spoke into it.
"Could Ebris Eacho come to my office please? I repeat, could Ebris Eacho please drop by Professor Ozpin's office. Thank you"
A/N
Hey guys, thank you for reading my newest fanfic!
I absolutely love RWBY, and i hope it shines through in my writing.
Make sure to leave a review if you have any thoughts on my writing, and any ideas on future plot progression.
See you guys next time!