Ruby and Yang are trying to find their way to the great hall after Ozpin's speech when they notice a lot of commotion. When they find the source of it all, Ruby sees someone she didn't expect to see. Contains first fight scene.
Chapter 2
Getting Acquainted
"Soooo, what exactly happened after I left with my friends earlier?" I asked hoping to hear more about how she exploded a hole in front of the school.
" Oh you mean before or after I exploded a hole." Ruby replied apparently still a little bit mad about me ditching her though she was over it for the most part.
"Why not both" I answered.
Well It's like I said earlier, I tripped over the… Ice queen's luggage which I guess had dust in it that got knocked out. Then while she was yelling at me the dust made me sneeze which must've caused it to explode.
" Ouch, how big was the hole."
"Actually I don't think there was actually a hole."
"Oh so then what happened?" I asked as I turned around to notice someone run past me.
"This guy named Juane, the guy who threw up on the ship, helped me up and, hey watch it." She said as another student ran into her at full speed.
"Sorry." he apologized.
"Where is everyone going?" I asked.
"A new teacher is squaring off against three new students in an open match. We're going to watch." he answered.
"A three on one? Oh I am not missing this." Ruby said, quickly shifting from surprised to giddy.
"Yeah I'm right behind ya." I replied as we started to follow the crowd since we had no idea where we were going.
When we final arrived, the seats in the circular, arena style stands were half filled with armed spectators watching the fight. The majority of them were probably debating whether or not they should join the battle. Meanwhile, the three who had already done so royally getting their butts kicked by some guy in green armor and a jet black sword. The first combatant wore black vest and matching dress pants with a red undershirt that looked like something Ruby would were if she were a boy. He also used a reversed blade sword that was glowing red from what I assume was flame dust. The second challenger was a guy with red hair, a red claymore, and a silver jacket with light gray stripes that went from his sleeves to what I could only assume is a dust powered bomb attached to his back. The final combatant was green haired girl with a bow and arrow type weapon that had blades on both ends of the shaft.
"Oh my gosh IT'S THE GUY WITH THE FIRE SWORD."Ruby gushed.
" Really?" I asked. "This guy is winning a three on one and you gush about one of the losing guy's weapon,"
"Oh I'm gushing about everything this is so cool." She answered as we watched him deflect a barrage of both ranged attacks from the bow and melee attacks from the swords. The barrage finally ended when he detached his sheath from his side and swung it so hard at the one with the reverse blade that he was launched four feet back and landed on his back while the one in silver leaped back, apparently confused as to what just took out his buddy. The armored man took the opportunity to rush the girl, dodging and deflecting bullets as he went. While she wasn't defenseless in close quarters, she was out classed by whoever this guy only thing she managed to block was one wide swing from his sword. After that, he gave her a left hook to the face so hard that the whiplash looked like it could've broken her neck. All it actually did was cause her to stumble backwards a little bit but that was all he needed. it was over for her because he just started bombarding every new hole in her defence with fast and hard attacks with his black blade. Her aura was depleted well before her allies could help her and she was effectively eliminated her from the duel.
"Who is this guy? " I asked.
"I don't know but he's so cool," Ruby replied. "Wait, actually I think I do know him."
" Really?"
"Oh yeah. He's the guy who I met in the woods by Mom."
"When was..."
"Shh, I'm trying to watch."
And on that note we turned our attention back to the fight to see the silver guy taking a knee about ten yards away from his opponent by his red claymore, which had been broken just above the hilt. Meanwhile, his enemy grabbed his teammates reverse blade sword by the blunt end, stopping his attack dead in its tracks . He then pulled it to the side of his head and by extension its now exposed wielder exposed. He then punched him in the gut hard with the hilt of his katana. The boy hunched over, coughing violently.
"You know, I'm sure that there is an advantage to having a reverse blade sword in a profession centered on killing grim," stated with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. " But for the life of me I just can't see it." After that he released his hold on the kid's blade and kicked his already off balanced opponent square in the chest causing him to stumble back. The victor then sheathed his blade and reattached it to his side. " Your aura is now in the red and unless I'm mistaken, That means you're ineligible to continue the duel."
" No!" He responded. "I'm not done yet."
" Yes you are. One of Ozpin's terms for allowing this was that I'm not allowed to hurt any students and that's exactly what is going to happen if you come at me one more time."
Hearing that final remark provoked him further and caused him to charge straight at the man who just won a three on one. The man simply sighed and put his hand on his sheathed sword hilt. As the boy drew near I heard a click, and then an extremely loud rush of wind accompanied by a crack of a bone as the blurred image of his sword connected with the boy's chest. He landed about ten feet from the man. According the aurameter, the boy's aura was at zero and while the winner was virtually untouched.
"You know, you're lucky I decided to hit you with the back of my blade." he said as he began to walk towards his victim.
"Judging by the sound I'd say you have three, maybe four broken ribs." As he drew close. he knelt down by the boy's face.
"You're opponent's won't always be so merciful to such a display," he said. He then punched the kid in the face and knocked him out. Once he was sure the kid was unconscious, he placed his hand on the kid's wound. I saw a flash of blue light and the wound was gone.
The man stood up, a glowing red blade was thrown into the ground at the apparent victor's feet. A second later, it exploded and launched the warrior back four or five feet. I looked up at the aurameter and it read ' Aeden Marshal 41, Simon Megistus 38.' When I looked over at the boy who I thought was disarmed and he now had twin Ice blades I don't even know how to describe.
" Oh, that is awesome!" Ruby shouted. "Did you see that Yang? He used his jacket to make swords out of dust."
" Okay now that is actually pretty cool." I replied.
Once the smoke cleared, Aedan was just getting off the ground with his sword somehow still in hand, "Nice work kid." Aeden spoke up. Judging by his tone, he was either genuinely impressed by his opponents actions or just continuing to be a sarcastic asshole. "Not to sound condescending or anything but hats off to you for thinking tactically. Try adding some gravity dust to it next time. The only force behind what is an expanding flame with no pressure behind it. You basically hit me with an incendiary grenade."
" Judging by your aura I'd say it was effective enough." he replied.
" Yet I'm still standing, perfectly capable of kicking your ass, I'm pretty sure that says plenty on the effectiveness of your attack. But, just because you had a moment of intelligence…" he turned to the stands. " If anyone wants to join in feel free. Pool's open, water's fine." Ruby and I both immediately jumped into the ring for no other reason than it looked like fun. "Okay so we have two more victims. Anyone else coming down?" he asked. There was a brief moment of silence while nobody moved. They all just sat there either weighing their option or cowering in fear."Really? No one else. You're all just going to sit there like a bunch of pissants?"
Almost on cue, another girl came down and the name Pyrrha Nikos appeared on the board. Pyrrha wore her red hair in a slightly curled,waist-length ponytail and had bright green eyes. She was tall and had a fairly muscular body though not nearly as much a I do. She wore a light-brown, strapless top split divided vertically with some bronze patterns along with a red miniskirt. She wore a red ankle-length drapery that appeared to be wrapped around her skirt. There was a small circular bronze plaque by her right hip opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt. The plate bears her "shield and spear" emblem. She wore a bronze circlet headpiece that could be seen above her ear and under her bangs. She also sported a large bronze necklace type thing I don't know how to describe. Her armor had elaborate bronze greaves that start below her mid-thigh, continuing downwards into her boots and a pair of cuisses that begin mid-thigh and end slightly above her knees. She also donned a bronze bracer on top of the sleeve on her left arm. Don't ask me why but I guess she decided to fight in high-heeled boots. "I guess I'll give it a try," she said as she took a wide stance with her shield raised and her spear at it's side.
"Okay so now we've got another one. That's… better I guess," Aeden announced. " A four on one ought to be entertaining, but just for the heck of it. I won't draw my sword until it comes down to me and whoever is the last one standing."
He then took a wide stance with both of his arms raised in a defensive stance. He was waiting for one of us to make the first move. Eventually, we did. Ruby took out her massive scythe and charged him. But right in the middle of her first swing, he leaned inward and grabbed the scythe's shaft with his left hand, stopping it dead in its tracks while his right hand punched her in the face hard enough to make her take her right hand off her scythe and cover her face. He then took advantage of that by ducking under her scythe, getting back to back with her, and then using his superior grip on the scythe to put it to her neck and put her in a choke hold.
"You know what the problem is with long, heavy weapons like scythes?" he began as ruby's hands moved to her throat in an effort to prevent blacking out. "They're easy to counter if you know how. You see, they generally have a wide swing which leaves you open both just before and after each attack. Generally your speed may be enough to prevent that from happening but unfortunately for you, I'm faster."As he finished speaking, I charged in to try and help Ruby. As I drew closer, his left hand let go of the scythe's shaft while his right arm swung it around his side and struck the side of my face with the back end of it. Ruby was released by the move which left her gasping for air while I was knocked on my butt.
"And you should never charge an enemy whose weapon has a longer reach than your's, it puts you at a tactical disadvantage because your enemy has plenty of time to anticipate you and strike before you are within range to do anything." he said as he threw crescent rose back Ruby who collapsed from the force since she was still a little disoriented. "I won't be a forgiving next time you do something that reck... ohh shit!" he yelled as he did a quick step forward to dodge Pyrrha's attempt at a sneak attack.
Pyrrha and Simon decided to step in at that moment. Both of them had apparently learned from our mistake and were both being pretty cautious. They kept a fast and fluid rhythm of attacks between the two of them and used the length of their swords to keep him out of range for any hand to hand combat. The only thing he really could do was dodge. There form was almost flawless and their teamwork was surprisingly good for two people who haven't met. Unfortunately that wasn't enough. Simon took a step forward and Aeden reached out as though he were trying to grab a blade with his bare hands. Then, with another flash of blue light, the Ice blade turned into a cloud of steam. Shortly after a disarmed Simon was launched out and laid motionless on the floor. When the makeshift fog cleared, Pyrrha's red and gold blade was crossed with Aeden's newly stolen ice blade. Pyrrha was the first to make the next move when she brought her shield up for a shield bash that he blocked with the spiked hilt guard of his blade while still using the blade of the sword to hold pyrah's sword a bay. They then broke away for a second until Pyrrha began a rapid barrage of thrusting attacks with her weapon's spear form. Each thrust brought the blade mere inches from his helmet as he dodged her blows. My guess is she was trying to keep him from getting close enough to counter her. Unfortunately for her, he still managed to exploit a weakness in this defensive strategy when he took a step forward mid thrust, grabbed the shaft of her weapon, and pulled it to his side. He then pulled it forward, and exposed her right hand which he immediately struck with Simon's ice blade. The ice sword broke at the hilt, but that was irrelevant now because she released her grip on her weapon which he immediately picked up. There was a fair amount of distance between him and Pyrrha which resulted in a short pause in the fighting. Me and Ruby ran to Pyrrha's side with our weapons raised in case he tried to rush her.
"Got your back," Ruby announced. Oddly enough, though, he didn't seem to have any plans to to attack us or Pyrrha. Despite the fact that her aura was low and she lost her primary weapon. It would've been easy to finish her off and be down to a two on one. Instead, he took a rather peculiar stance where he extended his left hand with his palm out and thumb extended outward pointing to his right. He then placed the end of the spear's shaft on his thumb while his right hand gripped the base. He lead with his left foot which was pretty far forward. It looked pretty odd but from what I've seen from this guy, it's probably going to be tough to beat. But, as expected, Ruby once again charged straight at him, and almost immediately got punished by a spear thrust to her head. His thrust must have been deceptively powerful, because despite the fact that Ruby was coming at him full speed, he didn't move an inch when he hit her, heck he even held the pose for a quick second after he hit her. Ruby on the other hand, ran into the spear so fast that she did a half flip and continued flying until her back cracked the concrete wall of the ring. She fell to the floor after a second and didn't move.
"Ruby!" I shouted.
"She's fine," Aedan said in a completely indifferent voice. " just look at the scoreboard." I did what he said and looked at the board. It's readout was Pyrrha Nikos 43; Ruby Rose 7; Yang Xiao Long 91; Aeden Marshal 35: which meant that while we had been getting wrecked for the last ten minutes or so, he was basically untouched since Simon's exploding sword attack. Between that and what he just did to Ruby, I just snapped. By eyes turned red, reflecting the rage he had coaxed from me. He seemed to have picked up on what was about to happen because he took the same stance he used on Ruby. I fire my gauntlets behind me to propel my body at him at an incredible speed. But just before my fist connects with him, he thrust his spear at me in much the same way he did at Ruby and it has almost the exact same effect. Luckily I wasn't going nearly as fast as Ruby was so I would probably be halfway out of aura by now. But since I wasn't, my aura was still at 83%. As I tried to get back on my feet, A familiar red and gold spear was sung into the side of my face with a ruthless power behind it and knocked me onto my side. I looked up and saw its wielder holding the blade to my throat.
" Okay, I'm just a little bit lost here, so if you could explain to me why you thought that was a good idea after seeing how it worked out for your sister, that'd be gr…" He was interrupted by an airborne shield that struck him in the back of the neck. Now that he was staggered, I grabbed the spear's shaft with my left hand and used it to pull myself up and deliver a powerful punch to his face. Not only did the blast cause him to release his hold on the spear, it also knocked him flat on his back. I saw this as my chance to finish him off. I rushed him before he had a chance to get up and just before I could deliver the final blow, he grabbed Pyrrha's shield and deflected the blow to his left. He discarded it after my gauntlets struck it but before they had touched the ground. Now that his hands were freed, he placed his left hand behind my right shoulder and used his right hand to pull my arm behind my back, forcing me to the ground. Once again Pyrrha came to my rescue when she attempted to stab him with her spear. She must've reclaimed it after I disarmed him. He leaped back and managed to dodge it but he was forced to release me from the arm hold. I quickly got up and saw Pyrrha standing beside me, completely rearmed and ready to fight. We were about to go in for one final attack when all of the sudden, he said.
"You're all first years aren't you?"
"Yes actually," Pyrrha answered hesitantly."How did you know?"
"As a whole you're simply not fighting like a well coordinated team," He answered bluntly." So I'll make this easy for you.I forfeit." He announced before he turned around and walked out of the room. Somehow that just left me more angry and confused than anything that happened during the fight. Judging by the low chatter coming from the spectators, they agreed. After a few seconds, Pyrrha approached me and asked " Are you okay?"
" I'm fine," I answered. " What about *gasp* RUBY." I exclaimed. Just then remembering that my little sister got brutally KOed. I looked over and she was sitting against the arena wall looking pretty disappointed. I ran over to her.
"Are you okay Ruby?" I asked.
"Yeah I'm fine," Ruby answered. "I'm fine. I just need a second to catch my breath. What about you"
" Don't worry about me, I'm fine" I replied. "Who was that guy and how do you know him?"
" (sigh) It's a long story." She answered. She began to tell me as we started walking towards the great hall where we heard we were going to sleep tonight. It wasn't long before we realized that we still don't know where the heck we're going.
We were in the great hall where the first years had gathered since we didn't have teams or dorms yet. Ruby was telling me the story about how she had just finished killing the pack of beowolves she told us about earlier when she accidentally assaulted a man and then proceeded to guide him back to our home town of patch. The story actually provided more questions than answers. Questions like: where did he come from, how does he not know what the grimm are, how does he have the ability to crush six first prospective huntsmen/huntresses and nt have his aura unlocked, When did he get it unlocked, what semblance allows him to both heal broken ribs and boil an ice sword, and what was he doing here. All of these answers were met with simple put 'I don't know's'. After a brief moment of silence Ruby asked me a question of her own.
"Why do you think he forfeited the fight?" She asked in a hushed and, well almost sad whisper. From the sound of it, she seemed like she was having second thoughts about coming here.
"I'm not sure," I answered. " He only did it after finding out we were first years, Maybe he didn't want to exhaust us befor our initiation."
"Well you're half right."
"How long were you listening?" Yang asked, clearly worried about what else he heard.
"With all the questions you have that's the one you start with. You are just a bundle of disappointment today aren't you?" He said sarcastically, almost immediately causing Yang's eyes to turn red. "Lighten up it was a joke, and to answer your question not too long. Just long enough to know you were talking about me."
"Why are you even here? Only first year students are supposed to be here tonight. And no offence but don't think too many students are that old," I said.
"First of all, I'm only 28."
"Still way older than most people here at beacon,"I retorted
" Yes well unfortunately, we can't all come here at fifteen like you're little sister," He said snidely. I wasn't entirely sure but I think that was a stab at how Ruby skipped two years and I didn't. "And to answer your original question, while you're the only ones sleeping in here, the_ is open to all students and faculty. Myself included."
"Wait you're a teacher here?" Ruby asked in disbelief. " How? I mean, two months ago you didn't even know what a Huntsman was, and now you're teaching us how to be one. Just, How? When?Why?"
"I asked Ozpin about a month ago because I needed a job and he said okay." He answered bluntly. "Obviously here was a little more to it but it's not an interesting enough story to elaborate on."
"Well…" I started. " What will you be teaching?"
"Military tactics and strategy."
"Wait, What? Why? We're not in the military," I asked
" Thinking tactically is a universally useful asset." he answered. "Our primary advantage over the grim is our higher thought capacities. If you don't learn it's value you're going to fail… a lot. Or you'll just be killed off before you graduate, it's not outside the realm of possibilities."
"Thanks, that's real comforting," I said sarcastically.
"What part of Today's events makes you think I care for your comfort?" he replied.
"How about the part where you forfeited the fight despite the fact you were clearly going to win.," I retorted back to him. "Which begs the other obvious question, why did you forfeit."
" Because I believed I had made my point." He said in a serious tone I was beginning to think was impossible for him. "Consider it my first lesson. Any disadvantage can be overcome. It's just a matter of figuring out how. Being clever and resourceful will always be more of an asset than being strong or well equipped. But that's enough of that. What have you been up to Ruby? Judging by the fact that you're here, something interesting must've happened."
"You probably don't want to hear it. You have better things to do, and it's really not that interesting," Ruby replied shyly.
"What are you talking about?" I asked with a mix of both praise and pride. " You were incredible!"
"Yang, I," Ruby protested.
"If I had something better to do I wouldn't have asked," he interrupted. " Go on and tell the story. Or would you rather me get your sister's version?"
"Alright then," She responded. She began to tell the story of how she stopped an armed robbery with five to one odds and chased their leader to a rooftop where she met Goodwitch. He'd ask questions here and there like " Why was Goodwitch there, criminal activity isn't the usual job for a huntress?" and " Where did they put the plane? Was it just parked in the street?" or my personal favorite, " Why did they put you in a police interrogation room? What were they trying to recruit you into beacon or the witness protection program?"
When she finished he stood up. He stretched his arms out by extending them above his head and then immediately put them on his back and leaned back. " that's an interesting story Ruby," he said. "But I think it's about time I started trying to find the other people I demolished earlier."
"Why's that?" I asked. " No offence but you don't seem to broken up about beating up a bunch of kids. And despite the last five minutes, you don't seem like you're just looking for conversation."
"No offence taken, in fact that's actually a fair analysis. Good work. You're not going to believe this but Goodwitch is making me apologize to you guys for, and I quote, 'my unnecessary brutality during a fight against minors' which I am honestly surprised by. I thought she of all people would understand my reasons."
"Well you did almost make Ruby black out back there." I commented, honestly a little bit offended by that remark.
" Oh don't be a baby, I didn't even leave bruises." he retorted
"That doesn't mean it didn't hurt." Ruby chimed in.
" Really, I never would've guessed. Who would've thought you could get hurt in a fight. "
"Do you really have to be so sarcastic with your comments?" I asked
"You're kinda being a jerk."
"Of course I don't, but it helps me think."
" Why?"Ruby asked "that makes no sense."
"I don't know, I'm not a psychologist." He said, showing the first, and possibly only sign of humility I've seen from him. " Now if you have any more questions, ask now because I have to find everyone before the go to sleep." After a few seconds of thinking, all I could come up with was"What was with all those mid-fight explanations?"
"It's my job to teach isn't it? how are you supposed to learn if you don't understand your mistakes. Anything else you want to ask?" there was another few seconds of silence before Ruby chimed in and asked."What was the point of the fight?"
" There was actually three reasons. one to assess your skills and knowledge, two, to teach you the importance of strategic thinking in combat, and three, to show you the caliber and the brutality of the enemies you will be facing from this point forward."
"How did you stop Ruby's max speed without budging? The wind she creates alone can move tables." I asked because I'm not going to lie, that was pretty impressive and I was pretty curious at the time.
" What I did was I," he paused. Pondering what his answer was going to be. "Actually, you know what? You just gave me an idea for some extra credit later. So I'm going to go ahead and not answer your question just to be fair to the other students. But just because you were among the only brave souls who accepted my challenge, I will tell you it isn't a feat of strength."
" How did you heal that one kid's broken ribs?" I asked.
" My semblance." he answered simply.
"Which is?"
"Again, extra credit for later, sooo can't tell you. Though, if you payed close enough attention during the fight, you could make an educated guess. I don't suppose there is somewhere I can post the recording for others to view by any chance? Like maybe a school website, online course catalog, deep web chat room?"
"I'm sure there is but I don't know where to find it."
"Do you have any idea who would?"
" Shouldn't you know this? You work here don't you?" Ruby interjected.
" Oh yeah let me get right on that with the whole month of experience I've had while school wasn't even in session."
" Alright. Alright. Try talking to Goodwitch, she might know something."
"Thanks, I'll get right on that. Now If you'll excuse me I got to go. " He said as he got up and walked away. Leaving me and Yang both a little more and a little less confused.
"Okaaay then." I started. " I officially don't know what to think of this guy."
" Me neither," Ruby agreed. "It's like he shuffles back and forth between being rude and sarcastic and being totally sincere and informative at random."
" I'm starting to think he's just not a consistent person. First, he ruthlessly beats us to a pulp, then he comes in here and talks to someone he met once like he's an old friend, ask us if we have any questions, and then for half of them basically just said 'eh, you can probably figure it out'."
" So what do you think his idea for extra credit is?"
" I don't know. Why?"
"Just curious."
"Well I'm sure he'll tell us later." I looked down and noticed she was writing something. Naturally, I had to ask. " So what's that?"
"Writing a letter to my friends back at signal."
End of Chapter 2
Okay so what did you think of the first chapter I actually enjoyed writing.
Please go all out and be ruthlessly honest. I'm really hard to offend.
Also I would like to give a shout out to Mark. He's the youtuber that made the OC team I used for the opening fight scene.