Chapter 2
Abandoned Facility
The Faunus leapt at the team of girls. Yang lifted her leg up for a kick, but the Faunus evaded the attack. It brought a clawed hand to her face. She managed to dodge it, but she suffered a deep gash across her cheek. Pain erupted through her as she could see the blood shift from the cut and flow towards the Faunus.
With a swift hand gesture from the Faunus, Yang's blood began to morph into floating needle-like objects. Not good, she thought. The blood then sped towards Yang. She ducked and dodged to the best of her abilities, but the blood needles were ferocious in their assault. She received multiple cuts across her body, and that blood also began to attack her.
"Yang!" Bullets intercepted the path of the needles as they were destroyed, the blood misting and disappearing from view. Enraged, the Faunus turned towards the shooter's location. Its eyes came upon Ruby, who was readying another shot at the Faunus.
It unfolded its wings and leapt into the air. In the speed of its action, Ruby had faltered at aiming up, giving the Faunus an opening for the attack.
It sent a heavy side kick to Ruby's stomach. A crunch was heard as she was sent flying into the wall. The Faunus folded its wings and dropped back to the ground. They began to move toward her, but pain hit their left leg. Looking down, they saw bullet holes close to the knee cap, black blood pouring from the wounds. Glancing around the room, it saw Blake standing in a corner of the room. The Faunus unfolded its wings and attempted to fly.
It sped toward her until lightning struck it directly on the membrane of its wings. It shrieked in pain as it looked at Weiss. The heiress shook slightly as she met the Faunus' eyes, the two white dots housing hatred beyond comprehension. She saw the inky blackness of their aura emanate from their body. It was as if she were dancing with Death himself. It's trying to kill you. Focus on your training, she thought to herself.
She quickly regained her composure and wrote a glyph underneath the Faunus.
An explosion of flames erupted from the glyph, causing deafening shrieks to emanate from the Faunus. Soon, the shrieking stopped. The flames began to die down, allowing the three—Ruby was still down—to see the state of the Faunus. They put a hand over their noses at the stench of burning flesh.
"Is he dead?" asked Blake as she eyed the charred skin.
"I hope not," said Yang. "This is the one Ozpin sent us out to rescue, isn't it?"
Blake put Gambol Shroud back into the sheath on her back. "I hope so, too, Yang," she said. Weiss followed suit by sheathing Myrtenaster.
"Ruby!" she said as she ran over to her leader. Yang and Blake followed her with worry.
"Sis!" Yang cradled Ruby as she rubbed her head. Blood was lightly flowing from her mouth, but her breathing was, to Yang's greatest relief, normal.
"Oh, thank dust you're alright!" she said as she lightly embraced Ruby. A weak chuckle came from her.
"Come on, Yang… it'll take more than… that," she said. Yang gave a hearty laugh as she released Ruby from the embrace.
"Ow… could someone help me up?" Blake and Weiss extended a hand each as they slowly lifted Ruby up, who winced from the action.
"Now, let's grab that Faunus and—" Yang stopped as the four noticed that the Faunus had disappeared. A puddle of pulsating black blood resided where the Faunus lay not five minutes ago.
"Where did that creature go?" asked Weiss as she unsheathed Myrtenaster once more. Something warm hit her shoulder. She put a hand over it, and felt a sticky feeling accompany the touch. Bringing her hand back into view, she saw that black blood had landed on her shoulder. Landed.
No, she thought as she looked up. She so wished she hadn't. On the ceiling, she saw the blackish-brown wings obscure the Faunus. They opened up to reveal a nightmarish sight. Inky-black blood caked the Faunus' body, still pulsating like the puddle on the ground. The Faunus' mouth had turned from a smile to a frown, the lines of its lips appearing to cut into the flesh. Their eyes had grown bigger, with the dots now being like flashlights compared to the flesh it was set into, and the head was constantly twitching, like a broken automaton head.
Their arms had been covered completely in blood, and Weiss noticed that spikes seemed to protrude from the skin while the fingers had become claws, allowing the Faunus to hang from the ceiling. Before Weiss could shout, the Faunus ejected from the ceiling, heading straight for the girls.
Weiss created a gravity glyph and pushed the team, and herself, away. The Faunus went straight into the ground, raising a dust cloud across the room. Weiss' eyes stung at the intensity of the concrete dust.
"Blake! Can you see him?" Yang's voice echoed across the room.
"No, what about you!" yelled Blake. She was having an even harder time seeing than the others. Ruby groaned next to her.
"Ruby, what is it?" She saw her leader point to her stomach.
"I think the Faunus broke some of my ribs…," said Ruby. Blake nodded her head as she grabbed Ruby by the shoulders.
"Alright," she set Ruby on the ground, "do your best to avoid him." Ruby nodded as she watched Blake sprint off into the dust cloud's center.
Yang readied Ember Cecilia, waiting for any form of movement from the Faunus. Still alive at least, she thought. Seconds went by before she heard something scrape across the ground. The Faunus leapt out from the dust, their wings giving them a speed that Yang struggled to keep up with.
The Faunus began delivering swift claw swipes that came within an inch of her face. She countered with a heavy, dust-backed punch to their arm. A crunch resonated from the impact, with a bone breaking through the flesh. Yang then delivered a kick to the Faunus' side, sending them skidding across the concrete ground.
The dust by this point had settled, allowing for the team to see the entirety of the fight. The Faunus stood up on its legs as it surveyed the situation. The bone that tore through its arm was reset back beneath the skin, a small black membrane-like flesh patch covering the hole that had been created. It crouched low to the ground, scraping the concrete with its claws like a caged animal. The wings became frozen. The Faunus appeared like a carving straight from a statue.
Blake started slowly approaching the Faunus from behind silently so it couldn't hear her. She glanced over at Weiss who understood the mute request. She gripped Myrtenaster and began to quietly draw an anti-gravity glyph underneath the Faunus; however, Weiss's high-heeled boots accidentally click-clacked against the ground.
The Faunus snapped their head towards her direction. Her breathing stopped as she stared into the endless pools of white that were the Faunus' eyes. Their claws began to scrape faster and faster against the ground as it moved closer towards Weiss. Weiss started to draw the glyph at a rate faster than her heart could beat. Before she could activate the glyph, a bullet tore through the Faunus' right wing.
Its shriek was inhumanly loud as it then turned its head towards the direction of the shooter. To Yang's, Blake's, and Weiss' horror, Ruby was seen standing up with Crescent Rose's gun barrel aimed at the Faunus. She was struggling to stand, with her knees nearly buckling under the weight she was putting on them.
The Faunus gave a feral smirk as it reared back, ready to fly towards Ruby. Ruby took aim once more, but her legs gave out from under her. She looked up to see the Faunus flying straight at her. She closed her eyes in in fear, hoping that she'd be saved in time.
The Faunus let its tongue loll out as it came within ten feet of Ruby, but the anti-gravity glyph Weiss had drawn activated, forcing its wings to suddenly jerk downward. They crashed and skidded across the ground at the sudden action, snarling in white-hot anger. As it was getting back up, a series of forceful punches riddled their body in near seconds flat. It was sent flying into a wall with a bone crunching kick. Its vision was blurry as it looked for the attacker that hit them from behind. It found Yang, whose lilac-purple eyes had turned a crimson-red. Flames licked her hair as she glared at the creature who had nearly killed her sister.
"Don't you dare lay a hand on her," she said with barely controlled rage. The Faunus laughed before it began another assault on the yellow-haired girl. They didn't anticipate the speed and force Yang would attack them with. More punches were delivered as bones broke one by one across their body. Yang's rage spoke directly through her fists. This thing had nearly killed her sister, and she had almost been unable to stop that from happening. Her punches became faster and harder, fire beginning to crackle from her knuckles.
Slowly, her rage began to die down. Her hands felt tired, which should have been expected from all the punching she had done. The Faunus had stood on near broken legs, which was a more terrifying sight than one would think.
"You…" Their voice seemed garbled, giving an echoing vibe to the uttered word. Yang suppressed a shudder as she brought her fists back up to fight. No matter how long it took, they'd take this person back to Beacon.
It didn't matter. The Faunus pointed a clawed finger at her before it hit the floor with a soft thud. Yang put her arms down in fatigue, her face pale and shining with sweat. Blake approached them while Weiss helped bring Ruby over to the fallen Faunus, or what was a Faunus.
"Is he alive?" asked Weiss. Blake moved to the Faunus' neck and put a hand over it. She nodded slowly, making sure the breathing pattern was light and normal. Ruby sighed as she clutched her side where the Faunus had kicked her earlier.
"Thank dust," she said.
"You've knocked him unconscious?" The four turned to see the A.I. emerge from a compartment on the side of the cell wall.
"Yeah, we— wait, where were you?" asked Blake as she narrowed her eyes at the orb.
"Well, you see, I have to keep everything in check here. Without me the facility would be useless," said the A.I. as it turned the orb to look at the Faunus. "I hope you four are here to free him."
"We're moving him out of here and back to Beacon," said Weiss as she fixed her side ponytail. Her hair had come undone during the fight and she was unable to fully concentrate because of it. Her hair was a most delicate matter to deal with, as it helped her keep the pride of Schnee around her easily. Her clothes were enough, but she digressed.
"Wonderful, I'm sure it'll be beneficial to him," said the A.I.
Yang put her arms underneath the Faunus and picked him up with ease. "Guy's pretty light for a powerhouse." She heaved him onto her back. Blake and the others jumped when the Faunus twitched slightly. It eased back into unconsciousness, however, and the three moved behind Yang in case it attempted anything hostile.
Outside the facility, Ozpin and Goodwitch were waiting for Team RWBY to come out from their mission.
"How can you be so sure they have the Faunus right now?" asked Glynda in worry. Ozpin drank some of his coffee, which never seemed to run out, much like Oobleck's coffee never ran out.
"Glynda," he said, "you know me, I'm able to tell when things work out." He observed the growing plants and lively fauna that settled around the facility. Nature had always been a tool of calming for Ozpin when he was surrounded by all of his work. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to admire such beauty for a while, and seeing nature in its youth here was a sight that not even the greatest gurus could love.
"While that is true, Ozpin, we sent those four girls to deal with a creature that we might not even be able to handle." Ozpin felt his thoughts sour at the hearing of a Faunus being called a creature. He knew that Faunus were treated badly, but he would most certainly not tolerate the shunning and ostracizing from his colleagues.
"This is a fact, Glynda," Ozpin's voice lowered as he spoke. "I'll not have you, James, Oobleck, or anyone in my presence speak ill of the Faunus. I grow tired of the constant mistreatment, for they are people just like us, and yet we are stumbling buffoons grasping at straws. So, I will make myself clear once more. Never speak ill of Faunus, especially this one."
Glynda's eyes widened at Ozpin's tone, and her body involuntarily shuddered. It was never a pretty sight when Ozpin would lower his tone of voice. She could remember a time when it went really south. Best not to think about that.
"Anyways," Ozpin looked at his watch, "they'll be out in 3… 2… 1…" Sure enough, Team RWBY had emerged from the facility. The two professors noticed the form of a bloodied person slumped over Yang's shoulders as the girls approached them. Ozpin saw the black color of blood and realized it was the Faunus he and Goodwitch had sent the four out to rescue.
"It seems you four completed the mission," said Ozpin as he straightened his glasses. Ruby nodded while she clutched her stomach again. Ozpin noticed this.
"Miss Rose, is something hurting you?" Ruby gave a nervous chuckle.
"Just tell them, dolt!" whispered an annoyed Weiss. Ruby gulped while she looked for a foundation to put her words upon.
"Um, well, sir… the Faunus gave me a nasty kick to my stomach. He might have… ow!... broken something," she said.
Goodwitch felt her eye twitch as she angrily glared at Ozpin, who seemed to have ignored her glare.
"Hm…" Ozpin sipped some of his coffee. "We'll have the infirmary check it out when we're back at Beacon. In the meantime, most impressive for rescuing the Faunus, not many could pull that off." He had watched the entire battle from his scroll with camera angles a film director would kill for. How he did this, well, he wouldn't tell.
"Thank you, sir," said Blake as she helped put the Faunus down onto the ground.
Yang looked around, a baffled expression crossing her face. "Um, sir," she began, "how are we getting back?" Ozpin chuckled at the question.
"By airship of course," he said with seriousness. He snapped his fingers, and an airship came into view. "We borrowed this one, so there won't be any consequences."
Once the airship touched the ground and the bay door opened, Yang carried the Faunus inside.
"Put him down over there, Miss Xiao Long," said Goodwitch as she pointed to the center of the airship's floor. Yang obeyed and put the Faunus down. I hope he wakes up soon. She suddenly realized that the Faunus had reverted back to his original state from before the battle, not to mention he was fully healed.
His hair was an oak-brown, which stood out against the paleness of his skin. The skin wasn't as fair as Weiss', but for a guy it was freaking pale. Two brown bat ears stood erect at the top of his head—she dare say it looked adorable on the guy. She moved on to the structure of his arms and body. He was lean and skinny, but she could see muscles moving underneath his arms. To her, he appeared to not be as muscularly defined as the average person, but it was obvious the guy was strong. His bones were quite visible, though, like a skeleton with a small amount of flesh on its structure.
His mouth was open, just enough for her to see the pearl-white shine to his teeth. There was something else too, and upon a closer look she saw that they were fangs. Must be common for a bat Faunus. She observed his hands, noting the sharp points of the nails and their black color. Black seemed to be a heavy theme with the Faunus, what with his black blood and black nails. What was next, black eyes?
Overall, she had to admit that the guy was attractive. Strong, deadly, and who knew, maybe he was a nice person. Then again, people like that were not known to be nice people.
As the airship neared Beacon, Ozpin reflected on his plan for the Faunus. It was something he knew needed to be done, otherwise, why would he have done so? He sighed as he rubbed his nose in visible fatigue. This will work out, Ozpin. You just need to wait for the end results, and judging by the videos, it may take a while to do so. His eyes set their sights on the faintly visible Beacon Tower, and he smiled, knowing they were nearing their destination.
"Desmond, come on!" yelled a feminine voice. Desmond could feel his forehead throbbing. "Alright, Aila, I'm coming," he said as he watched a small black-haired girl dart from view. His sister was being annoying today, and there was one good reason as to why. Desmond knew that, but it wouldn't stop Aila from being annoying.
Rounding the corner, he saw more of his family talking near a pair of spruce wood doors. It was his uncle, Gale, and his cousin, Artik. They were close members of his family, and he was happy they were there for his immediate family. Oddly enough his Aunt, whose name he never knew, would always avoid the family. His uncle was sad at the fact, but he knew the duty that needed to be upheld for the Dontiae family.
Desmond was just a day shy of fifteen, and this was the day his father would step down from the head seat. Desmond would then take over until he had a son to replace him, whenever that would be. His family was reluctant to introduce suitors to him, for reasons he could only guess at. He had shared the familial disgust of humans.
Hell, Desmond experienced his first kill for his family when a trespasser was found on the grounds. While enraged at the event, his father had also shown fear at a human seeing their home. The trespasser was captured and brought to an altar, where the Dontiae family would execute him. Desmond was given the honor of the execution, which elicited a smile from the young Faunus.
The memory was still there. Torn flesh, warm blood, sticky fingers, and the joy of killing. Most would say that his family was monstrous, but where the Dontiae family existed, they'd realize they weren't so monstrous after all. That's what he hoped for at least.
He approached the spruce wood doors, taking note of the elegant carving and polishing that was put into the doors. He put on a smile, ready for the responsibilities he would take up in the next few hours of his life. He put his hands on the door and walked in.
The room was on fire all of a sudden, and Desmond had adopted the feeling of fear. He looked all around him, seeing the dead bodies of his family. "Father, Mother!" He feverishly looked for his parents. He found them, but they weren't much alive. No, they were on the ground and were bleeding excessively from claw marks on their chests and appendages.
His father looked at him, his blue eyes half-glassy with death. "Son… why did you… lose yourself?" Desmond felt something warm on his hands. Looking down, he began yelling in grief and dismay. His hands were stained red, a red so bright it could have competed with the red sky of Dawn.
This couldn't be happening, it couldn't! "No!" He reached for his parents, but they suddenly disappeared into dust and ash. "No! No! No! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" He clutched his head in anguish, the blood staining his face and eyes. It was warm and slick, and he could taste copper on his tongue. He couldn't have done it! He couldn't have killed them!
A demented voice cackled behind him. Turning his head, he nearly fell over at the sight. It was a reflection of him, except this one was stained with black blood, and his eyes were two white orbs with a smile not humanly possible underneath them.
"Well, look who it is." The voice spoke just like him, except it had a tone as if it were speaking in water. "What, it's just me, or should I say… you?" Desmond found it hard for his voice to appear. This apparition couldn't be him, it couldn't.
The figure walked up and grabbed his head. Desmond felt claws poking at him from all directions. "Yes, that's right. I am you, and what a splendid job you've done of killing. Who knew you had it in you to go this extreme!" The figure's smile grew more twisted as it spoke.
"You'll live with this from now on, Desmond. Never forget it," said the figure as it cupped Desmond's chin with two fingers. "I'm always there, like a shadow. You can never escape me, understand?" Desmond couldn't move his head in denial. The figure burst out in laughter.
A white light suddenly filled the center of the room, the color so blinding that Desmond had to cover his eyes. He could hear the figure screeching in anguish. Instinctively, Desmond ran towards the light, all while the figure screeched in pain.
A faint beeping came from the light as Desmond came closer to it. A machine maybe? Desmond didn't care as long as he could get away from the nightmare. He got closer and closer to the light until he could touch it. The light pulsated, sending out a wave of white light. Desmond felt himself faint as the beeping got louder. Before he completely blacked out, he heard the figure say, "You'll never escape, Desmond. I will always be there." He then blacked out.
Desmond felt a shock hit his chest, color invading his eyes as he jolted upright from the soft mattress. Wait, mattress? He looked around, and saw people in white surrounding him.
"Get away!" He attempted to scratch one of the people, but the others held him down. "No! Stop it! Get away!" His voice began losing itself, with a primal screeching replacing his words. He saw a syringe out of the corner of his eye and began thrashing about. His wings hit the walls, curtains, even some of the people in white. They held their ground, though, and the doctor with the syringe pressed it into his skin, releasing a slumber-inducing liquid into him. The shrieking died down as Desmond fell into sleep.
From outside the room and through a one-way mirror, Ozpin and Team RWBY watched the whole debacle unfold before their very eyes. Ozpin remained quiet, but the rest could not be said for Team RWBY.
Ruby had used her cloak to both hide her eyes and cover her ears from the shrieking emitted by the Faunus. Weiss had her hands over her ears, while her eyes watched the Faunus thrash his wings about in fear. Blake had flattened her cat ears, rubbing her head in pain at the volume of the shrieking. Yang put her hands over her ears and began to mutter something incoherently while she waited for the shrieking to stop.
"Alright, girls," said Ozpin as he drank his coffee, "the Faunus is asleep now." Weiss sighed in relief as Blake, Yang, and Ruby shook their heads in pain from the shrieking.
"So glad that's over," said Ruby as she rubbed her ears.
Ozpin opened a door that led to the infirmary. The four girls followed him to where the Faunus lay. They noticed the shallowness of his breathing.
"What's happened doctor?" Ozpin asked a doctor who had been checking the Faunus' vitals. They shook their head.
"I don't know, Headmaster," said the doctor as he turned a dial on a machine that was hooked to the Faunus. "Scans show that his bloodstream is not full of red blood cells," he turned on a screen showing the bloodstream, "but black blood cells."
Team RWBY had gasped as they saw the blackened walls of the Faunus' bloodstream. A light shined in the screen, revealing the floating black blood cells. "Here, you can see the cells are moving at a slower pace and are clumped together. They seem to be held by some near-invisible thread, one that can't be seen with our equipment." The doctor moved on to a collection of photos pinned on a board above the patient bed.
"Here," the doctor pointed to a photo of the Faunus' spine, "is where things get weirder." Ozpin gave a slightly curious look. The four girls held their breaths as they waited for an explanation. "The bio—scans picked up the Faunus' ears," the doctor pointed to the brown bat ears on the Faunus' head, "but it couldn't pick up the wings."
"What are you trying to say?" asked Ozpin as he sipped some coffee. The doctor sighed as he put his hands on the wings, which twitched from the contact.
"I'm saying that these are a mutation that the Faunus had to undergo. You said he went through experiments, right?" Ruby and the others adopted somber looks. Ozpin nodded.
"Well, I theorized that the wings were grown from a mutation brought on by the experiments. Thanks to the files retrieved from that facility, I was able to take a very small sample of membrane—it regrew by the way—and cross-checked it with the file reports that the head scientist had left behind." The doctor then made a small cut on the Faunus' wings, blood quickly spurting before the cut was sealed shut. The color from where the cut was made changed from brown to black, as if it was always that color.
Ozpin marveled before saying, "I assume the healing is because of the black blood the Faunus was given?" The doctor nodded as he then opened up the Faunus' mouth, showing four sharp ivory-white fangs that replaced the main teeth.
"Cool," said Ruby as her silver eyes gazed at the sight.
"You say that, Miss Rose," said the doctor, "but it is more deadly than it is cool." Ruby looked at the doctor in confusion. "Let me ask you this, what species of bat do you think this Faunus is?"
Ruby put her finger on her chin in thought. There are different subspecies of Faunus? I thought it was just they were that animal and bam! Faunus.
"Pardon me, sir," said Weiss, "but would it by chance be… a vampire bat?" The doctor nodded. "Yes, Miss Schnee, this is a vampire bat Faunus. They have fangs because not only is this a part of their DNA, this is a direct link towards their semblance—more on that in a minute. I ran a small test on them, and I came across a disturbing realization: This Faunus' fangs are needed for him to revitalize both his aura and semblance. Like a real-life vampire." He turned to Weiss. "May I ask how you realized the Faunus' subtype, Miss Schnee?" Weiss gave a proud flick of her side ponytail.
"I made the assumption based on the fact that, when we were at the facility, I noticed that several of the corpses had bite marks in their necks. I've read about vampires in literature, so when I saw the marks, I realized that we would be facing some sort of vampiric creature." I want to leave this place as soon as we can. This Faunus is too dangerous to be around, and I won't risk my life for him or risk Ruby and the others.
The doctor smiled grimly as he continued. "Now, as I went over more scans, one thing stood out for this Faunus: Their semblance."
Ozpin sipped more of his coffee before asking, "What might they be, pray tell?" The doctor hesitated as he drew a knife out from a drawer and made an incision along the Faunus' stomach.
"Now, you four," he looked at the members of Team RWBY, "dealt with this briefly in the fight I was told occurred." The blood from the cut began morphing into a small creature with near-invisible arms. It looked around before it emitted a tiny shriek and began resealing the cut on the Faunus.
"The Faunus' semblance has also mutated from the experiments. It fused to his bloodstream, so, based on the files and experiments, we've dubbed it "Blood Puppeteer." A most fitting name if you ask me," said the doctor as he watched the tiny creature heal the Faunus. As this happened, the Faunus' aura was briefly visible. It was black as night, with no light able to pierce through it.
Weiss shuddered as she remembered the sight of the Faunus' aura. Dark and ominous, like Death himself had begun to dance with me. That second-long hesitation could have nearly cost her her life; however, she could have sworn she saw something worse hovering above the aura in that battle, but it had only been for a few seconds.
The Faunus stirred once more, putting a hand over the cut the small creature had finished healing. Before the cut fully closed, the creature morphed into a thin puddle and slithered back into the cut, which closed behind it.
Ruby scratched her arm in discomfort at the sight. Creepy.
Desmond opened his eyes again. He saw the white color of the room and began to squirm. A hand was put on his shoulder.
"Calm down, son. You're safe here." Desmond turned to the direction of the voice. It was a doctor, but this one seemed safe and passive. Not like those masked bastards, but he could be faking.
He tensed his fingers, his sharpened nails cutting into the soft fabric of the bedsheet.
"You're safe here, Desmond," said a voice near him. Wide-eyed, he snapped his head in that direction. His eyes came to rest upon a gray-haired man, who seemed to be quite young despite the color of his hair.
"How the hell do you know my name?"
The man chuckled quietly. "Before formalities are made," he said, "I will ask you to please lighten the language around me." Desmond gave a reluctant nod. "Next, the answer to me knowing your name is a special matter." He gave the man a light glare.
"You shouldn't be able to know my name, my family was able to make sure we never encountered humans," said Desmond with disgust.
This caused the man to frown. "My, such outdated views on the world." Desmond was about to retaliate until he noticed the four girls to his right. More people… great. His yellow eyes scanned the oddly singular color based group.
The young girl in red looked at him with what seemed to be curiosity. He noticed the red hood on her back, which seemed odd compared to the rest of her outfit. He noticed a device hanging on her belt, catching his attention. The girl seemed to notice his interest at the object. She put it in her hand and transformed it into a large red and black scythe. His yellow eyes widened in awe at the beauty of the weapon. "This is Crescent Rose. What do you think?" said the girl in red.
Nodding, Desmond moved his eyes over to the girl in black. Her long hair flowed in onyx-black cascades down her back. Her eyes were yellow like his, yet they held sincerity, passion, and peace—things he had forgotten over the two years of hell he went through. He saw a black ribbon that went down her right arm. Behind that, he saw a cleaver of some sort behind her neck in a sheath that rested next to a sword.
He moved on to the girl with bright-yellow hair. Her lilac eyes looked at him with a form of untold rivalry, born out of some sort of passion for fighting. She seemed the most familiar of the ones he'd looked at, but his mind could have been playing tricks on him. His eyes noticed that she was not exactly afraid to show her chest, and Desmond had to look away in embarrassment.
He heard her laugh loudly. "Like what you see?" He gave her a blood chilling glare, but she still smirked at him. This one's gonna be a handful. He saw a pair of golden gauntlets attached to her arms and then it hit him. They had fought at one point, but that was all he remembered. Her face wasn't familiar, but those gauntlets were. They'd explain the soreness I feel across my body. She'd be a good fighter.
His eyes moved on to the final girl. The first thing he noticed was her hair. White as snow. Her pale alabaster skin stood out against her ice-blue eyes, both of which captured the essence of beauty. Her clothing was all white, even her damn earrings. The only thing that wasn't white was her weapon, a gray-metal rapier which housed various vials of multi-colored powder in what appeared to be a cylinder which could turn multiple times.
He noticed that the girl wore a skirt like the one in red did. Never seen anyone wear a skirt to battle. Her boots were high-heeled and incredibly white. Desmond could tell she came from a rich family. Great, because I needed to deal with a rich brat in my life. Maybe brat wasn't the right word—he hadn't even talked to her yet. She turned her head to the side, smug pride beaming from the action. "Hmph!"
Scratch that, she was a rich brat.
"These four girls are the ones who rescued you, Desmond," said the gray-haired man. Desmond looked at him with doubtful eyes, which elicited a smile from the man. "Yes, these four," he gestured to them, "make up Team RWBY. "
Desmond looked over the four again. I don't get the team vibe from them, especially Miss-All-White next to me.
"Their names are Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long."
"How did you even know where I was?" he asked the man. "Plus, who are you?" The man looked at him with a neutral expression before drinking some of his coffee.
"That, Desmond, lies within these videos I was sent." A screen was turned on on the wall across from Desmond's bed. The first video caused memories to flash through his mind: Burning pain, blurry silhouettes, shrieking that made his ears bleed, and the feeling of something moving inside him.
The second video played. Desmond could feel the events, remembering them slide for slide. The blood that ran out of the scientists, the skin that was pierced by that needle. The feeling of an empty stomach, which was only satiated by the need of blood.
"Doctor Grut!" Desmond's whole body felt cold upon hearing that name. His fingers began to dig further into the bed. He felt cold metal scrape against his claws, creating a sound similar to tearing aluminum foil. This made the girl in red, whose last name he recalled being Rose, jump into the arms of the yellow-haired girl.
"Wh-What's that sound?" said the girl as she slowly sunk her head into her hood. Desmond's put his fingers back on his lap, giving a silent apology as he locked eyes with the silver-eyed girl. "Oh, it was you, Desmond." The girl put her feet back onto the ground as she nervously chuckled.
"Now, this third video is the worst of them all, I must say," said the gray-haired man. Desmond noticed he kept his gaze fixed on him as he said this. It wasn't until the video played that a warm thrill raced through his body, causing him to feel blood on his skin. Looking down he saw that he had in fact been bleeding. Inky black blood was pouring from his arms and heavily staining the bed.
He felt a scream rip from his throat, his body shaking from both cold and warmth. The blood was moving around, staring at him like a mutated monster with white, bulbous eyes.
"I told you," said the blood as the eyes fixated on him, "that I'll always be around, Desmond." He began thrashing his arms about, his wings being cut by his nails in the process. More of the blood began to pour out from the wounds, thereby surrounding him as well. The blood began to cover his body, making its way up to his head. The blood from the wings began to slither closer to him as well.
"Never forget me, for I am you."
Desmond's scream began to fill the air, but no one seemed to notice. They all seemed to be ignoring him, as if he was never there to begin with. Help me! Someone, get me out of here! He clutched his head in anguish as he waited for the light to fade away.
"Des… ake up!" The air felt as if it shattered. "Wake up, Desmond!" The blood vanished, the voice that spoke from the blood was gone. He saw Team RWBY looking at him in fright while the doctor and the gray-haired man looked at him in worry.
"Are you alright, Desmond?" asked the gray-haired man. Desmond realized that the room was sideways. He had fallen off the side of the bed during the hallucination.
"Yeah, I'm… alright," he said. He stood up, holding on to the bed as a crutch. Strangely, his legs didn't feel like jelly, they just felt sore.
He watched the rest of the third video. His fingers felt the touch of ripping intestines apart, a sticky warmth enveloping them. When he saw the past version of him being hooked back to those machines, he felt searing, white-hot pain erupt through his shoulder blades.
By the end, Team RWBY's reaction was a mix of awe and fear.
"As you can see," said the gray-haired man, "Desmond has experienced a set of experiments that not only increased his prowess, but also increased the ability of his aura and semblance. Is that correct, Desmond?"
Desmond nodded. "I was subjected to those experiments, which they called the Black Blood Phases, for over two years. I dealt with mutations that no one should ever have to deal with. However, before those experiments, I'd never heard of aura or semblance, those were things acquired through the experiments." The collective jaws of Team RWBY nearly hit the floor with that reveal. The gray-haired man simply affixed his glasses and sipped some of his coffee.
"Is it possible for something like this to happen, doctor?" asked the man.
The doctor grimly nodded before saying, "While it is rare, Desmond has had an aura and semblance since his birth—DNA tests managed to confirm that part. If you don't believe me, it's all right here." The doctor opened a drawer and pulled out a thick beige folder similar to what Ruby and the others found at the facility.
Ozpin took it and read the contents, humming as he scanned the report. "It seems that they have morphed your semblance, Desmond. A most grotesque thing, messing with a person's biological identity." Desmond flexed his arms, feeling the pulsing of his blood course through him. It felt tainted, deformed, like it was removed and pumped back into him.
"Ruby," said the gray-haired man as he looked to the four girls, "could you and the rest of your team head back to your dorm? I would like to talk to Desmond here in private." Ruby, the girl in red, nodded as she and the rest of her team left the infirmary. The gray-haired man closed the door behind them.
"Now, Desmond," the gray-haired man sat down as he motioned for Desmond to do the same. Desmond complied. "I am Professor Ozpin—sorry for not telling you earlier—and I have a proposition for you, if you feel like listening."
"Why should I? For all I know, you put up a farce, dragging those four girls into this, and are about to hand me back to Grut." Desmond practically spat venom with those words. That damned doctor was the reason he was like this, a reason he could have simply avoided if he had just kept moving away from the Twilight Woods.
He heard Ozpin sigh. "Desmond, why would I possibly do that?" asked Ozpin. Desmond went quiet, trying to think of a sensible answer, and couldn't find one. Maybe Ozpin was telling the truth, but at this point, any human was possibly connected to Grut, and there was no way he would fall into his hands again. Once was more than enough, and it would be returned to the man in hundredfold.
"I don't have an answer for that."
"Well then, let me ask you something. Would you consider joining Beacon Academy? We need more people like you." Desmond scoffed at that.
"People like me? Did you even hear what I am? Surely you wouldn't want me here. Who would after all that's transpired in not just the past few hours, but the two years that I was experimented on?" Desmond's arms were quelling with near unbridled fury. Couldn't someone just do away with him for his family?
"Desmond," said Ozpin, "I am fully aware of what you are—a Faunus with special abilities—and I ask you this because I can tell that something lies within you. Something of hope, light, peace—whichever you believe works best. Yet, in opposition, there is also something truly dark and sinister within your soul. I cannot tell what it is, but I do know that if you stay here at Beacon you may be able to find a way to tame whatever may lie there."
Desmond put a hand over his heart, feeling the pulse that seemed to be heavier than he remembered. Hope? Light? Peace? How long had it truly been since those resided within him? And there was also the darkness in him. A darkness he knew all too well. He thought to himself about the thing inside him, the thing that should have stayed dormant, but didn't feel like staying with that thought train.
Well, I've got nothing else to lose, so… He sighed as he ran a hand over his face. "Alright, I'll comply. If you think I should be here, then I'll attend this… school, I believe is what you said?"
Ozpin smiled warmly as he said, "Then welcome to Beacon Academy, Desmond. There is another part of the question though." Desmond warily nodded his head.
"What might that be?"
"My other part of the question is this: Can you control that black blood of yours?" Desmond hung his head in thought. Could he? That was a question that he hadn't thought of, granted he'd only been free for less than five hours. Yet at the same time, he felt that, though it sounded impossible, there was something about Beacon where he could figure out how to control the blood. 'Course, that apparition in my head's a different minefield all together, but I don't think it wise to alert Ozpin on this.
"I'm waiting, Desmond," said Ozpin. Desmond cast his gaze upon a window to his right, allowing him to see the outside of Beacon. The lush green foliage that surrounded the lawns of the academy brought to Desmond's eyes a beauty that he had no hope of seeing for the rest of his days.
Memories flooded his mind like a broken dam. Fields of brown and orange, houses of birch wood, the scent of roses and lilacs, a canvas that was half-finished. The canvas was the most painful of the memories for Desmond to remember. I never did finish it.
Desmond opened the window to feel the air of life invade the room. How could I forget this?
"Desmond?" Ozpin's voice seemed barely coherent as Desmond focused on the sounds of the outside. The wind blew a light, near silent whistle, water could be heard running from a river either outside or close to the academy's center, and the sun cast a warm glow on Desmond's arms. He heard the voices of students conversing, and upon hearing them, he knew the answer to Ozpin's second question.
He turned his yellow eyes to him and said, "I can Professor Ozpin, though it will take time." Ozpin smiled as he put his hand out, Desmond doing the same and shaking Ozpin's hands. Ozpin's eyes showed joy, a joy at him being able to help a wounded soul that needed healing. This will turn out for the best, Ozpin.
"Very well, Desmond. Starting tomorrow, you will be a student here at Beacon Academy, and I hope you become a superb huntsman because of this," said Ozpin as he ended the handshake.
"Thank you, sir. I hope to experience the joys of being a student here." Desmond chuckled at his given response. "It's been over two years since I was last taught anything, but it shouldn't be hard to remember it."
Ozpin drank some more coffee before saying, "Also, tomorrow you will undergo initiation—all students must do so. We don't have enough people to create a new team for now, so whoever you're paired with will be the team you're temporarily rooming with. Understood?" Desmond nodded in compliance.
Ozpin turned and began to exit the infirmary. "Oh, before I forget," Ozpin turned back around to look at Desmond, "do you have any weapons to use for tomorrow?" Desmond shook his head. "I see… Do you know how to make your own?"
"Sir, where would I be if I didn't know how to do just that?" asked Desmond with a smirk. Ozpin chuckled as he straightened his glasses.
"Then head to our weapon master—he'll help you sort out the materials— and report to the cliff side tomorrow morning."
Ozpin was about to close the door when he heard Desmond mutter, "It's just Dontiae, sir." He smiled as the door closed with a light click.
Desmond lightly laughed as he realized where he was. Free, healed, and not in a place where he'd experience hell every day without fail. He looked at his fingernails, his laughter slowly dying down as he examined the smooth black color of them. He then remembered the pain, pain of having his nails forcefully removed from his fingers. His mind felt cold, like an icy tundra had overtaken it.
What am I doing here? That was something he had blocked out, but being alone forced that question to surface back up to the center of his mind. He shook his head to quell the thought. Don't need to be thinking like that. I'm safe. Free. Swimming out of his thoughts, he realized that his hand was hovering above the door knob that lead to the halls of Beacon.
He looked down to realize he was in hospital scrubs, not exactly the most public outfit to go out and about in. His worries were alleviated when he saw a small pile of clothes next to his infirmary bed. A note rested on the top with the name Desmond written in a neat scrawl.
As he opened it, a pile of multi-colored paper fell out and landed on the drawer. He ignored them for the time being and read the contents of the letter.
Desmond,
Within this letter, you will receive 5000 lien, of which you may use for clothing or materials needed for weapons or other necessities. I hope you use it wisely. For now, these clothes are yours, just make sure to find new ones after tomorrow
Furthermore, at exactly 11:00 tomorrow morning—on the dot, if you will—you are to report to Beacon's east cliff side for your initiation. There will be a team there, of Goodwitch's and my choosing, to keep an eye on you during this initiation. More details will be given when you arrive there.
For now, I wish you the best of luck and I hope to see you grow and mature as a huntsman for these four years you are to be here for.
Best Regards,
Headmaster, or Professor, Ozpin of Beacon Academy
"This'll work perfectly," said Desmond as he stuffed the letter into the pocket of the jeans he was given to wear. He unfolded all the clothing and looked at it.
For his shirt, a simple black and gray t-shirt, which, upon wearing, he was glad to realize fit in perfect form. Snug and warm, my favorite. His only problem, he realized, was his wings. They threatened to rip the back of the shirt off completely. Damn experiments. If I hadn't been so weak, they would've never found me. He snapped his fingers as an idea came to light.
He removed the shirt, showing his lean stomach. He turned the shirt around and used his nails to make incisions large enough for his wings to fold through and then spread.
Putting the shirt back on, he felt the comfort of his wings easily sliding through the incisions and spreading out after they went through. It was an odd sight, a Faunus having to work around their wings for clothes to properly fit them. I wonder if there are other Faunus who have this problem?
He moved on to the jeans, which were a dark shade of navy-blue. They seemed comfortable enough. As they slid up his legs, he felt the pressure of denim circling around his legs. When was the last time his legs were covered with some form of real clothing? He struggled for a memory, but it seemed he could not easily access them unless a foreign entity forced his mind to remember.
The shoes were an object more foreign to him than the touch of cloth was. They were a set of polished black shoes, possibly dress shoes, but were hopefully boots or something. He couldn't tell why, but he felt a sense of comfort around footwear that didn't entail him going to a social gathering.
That actually applied to his being as a whole really. He never was one for big social events, much less when it came to him having, on occasions rarer than a blue moon, a chance of finding a suitor for him. They never did go well, the ones he could remember. It always ended up with the suitor's family becoming scared of Desmond and his family, which was where his distaste for humans—Faunus were sometimes mixed into the fray— mainly came from. Being shunned because he was a Faunus was something wholly out of his control, but he felt there was something he could do to stop the biased views of his kind running rampant across the world.
He decided to put those thoughts on the bookshelf. He needed to find the weapon smith that Ozpin had told him to see, an idea of what his weapon would be forming in his mind already. He picked up the lien on the drawer and headed to the door.
Opening it, he saw hallways that were a lovely color of beige. The stone brought about a cold, ethereal beauty to the place. His wings and ears twitched in excitement at the sight.
He pulled out the letter from his pocket, reading the directions given to him by Ozpin. "Alright, so I need to go… this way."
He wandered in the direction he believed to be north of the infirmary, and if he wasn't he'd reprimand himself later. As his shoes tapped against the ground, he noticed the shocked faces of some of the students he passed by, some fearful, others in awe, but they all held a singular core thought: Surprise. Surprise at the sight of a Faunus who was, from a distance or close-up, very creepy to see. He couldn't blame them; after all, who'd expect to see a bat Faunus with actual wings walking around Beacon? No one probably.
Ruby and her teammates were near their dorm when they heard some passing students whisper something familiar.
"Can you believe it?" asked one student.
"No, I can't," said another. "Who allowed that creepy Faunus into Beacon?"
"I don't know, but those eyes are downright terrifying! And their wings, how's that even possible?" said a third student.
Ruby looked to her team, who shared her cautious look at the students. "You think they're talking about Desmond?"
"I don't know, but the less we hear about that Faunus the better," said Weiss as she turned to the direction of their dorm. Blake's eyes flashed with a near unprovoked anger at Weiss' comment.
"He has a name you know. You could just be more civil than what you said." Weiss looked at Blake with a raised eyebrow.
"And why should I? He nearly killed us!" Blake glared at Weiss with hot rage.
"He wasn't in control of himself! How can you judge him so quickly because of that?" Weiss flicked her head to the side in protest.
"That doesn't mean he's still a danger now, does it?" Blake's mouth fell into an angry frown.
"Guys!" Blake and Weiss looked to Ruby, whose silver eyes had been fixed into a serious look. "Can we please, and I mean please, not talk about Desmond like that!"
Weiss gave a simple huff while Blake cast her eyes down to the ground.
"I don't want you to treat him like he's a nobody, I mean look at what he went through. It's bad enough that his being a Faunus is causing him to be ostracized—if that's even a proper word to use—but I want all of us to be his friends. Is that so difficult to ask for?" Ruby's face had begun to redden from her little outburst.
"Look, Ruby," said Weiss, "that Faunus is a danger. We can't be near him or else we'll end up in a bad situation. I personally don't believe Professor Ozpin should have brought him here in the first place."
Ruby's jaw dropped in shock. "Are you seriously saying that you would have just left him to die!?" she shrieked in near anger. Blake and Yang glared at the heiress, anger all too prevalent in their eyes, with Yang's lilac eyes turning redder by the second.
"Yes, I would have done so in a heartbeat! I'll say it once more, he's a danger, not to mention a ruffian," said Weiss
"You little—" Yang's retort was cut short as students began rushing by the four girls. They seemed to be scared by something, but the four could take a guess as to what they were rushing from.
"He's coming, let's just move away from here!" whispered a female student to her friends.
"Yeah, I really don't want to be near that guy," said a male student.
Ruby gave a sad frown as she and the others saw the reaction of Desmond's Faunus attributes. Why is it so difficult for people to accept Faunus? They aren't all bad, and Desmond is one of those. She hung her head as she lead her team to their dorm.
And this is why I despise humans. That thought was essentially his life motto, and it held ground even here. Why do I get the feeling Ozpin expected this? Even though he'd only known the odd headmaster for so short a time, it seemed the man had knowledge of things that Desmond, or anyone for that matter, did not have.
As he kept walking the pathway to the weaponsmith, students were annoyingly turning around or rushing past him when he came near them. Sure, he could be seen as… creepy for lack of a better word, but it wasn't his fault that he looked like he did. It wasn't his fault for being a Faunus, but everyone seemed to just up and leave when he was around. He felt like a walking freak show, which in some cases, he legitimately was such a thing. Every single human just had to mistreat his existence. Every single one.
Then again, not every human today has been like this. He had to agree there with himself. Ozpin most certainly felt comfortable around him, which, in Desmond's book, one human who was fine with him was good enough. Although, I have the creeping urge to punch some of these people. Eh, better keep that side under a bit more control.
There was also Team… RWBY if he recalled Ozpin's words correctly. There was the leader, Ruby. She seemed nice if not naïve at most of what was around her. There was Blake, the black-haired girl, who had an air of intrigue about her. Her black bow made it seem as if she were hiding something, and Desmond had a good idea as to what she was hiding. Most likely a Faunus, it's just a bit obvious to me. If not, then she's damn good at visually lying.
Then Yang came to his mind, which made him shuffle slightly. She was certainly not dainty nor caring about how she revealed herself, especially in her chest region. That would make things awkward between them. The one thing that truly stuck out about her were her gauntlets, whatever their name was. Ruby had said something about her scythe's name, but Desmond wasn't paying much attention when she had said that. There was no way he would remember Yang's gauntlets' names.
Finally, there was the fourth and final girl, Weiss. She seemed to be afraid of him, that or she was just stuck-up like a rich brat. Probably the latter if I were to believe anything, especially with our first little interaction. What made him remember her the most vividly was her appearance. White clothes, alabaster skin, ice-blue eyes, the epitome of beauty. Then there were the little things, like the earrings she wore, the necklace wrapped around her neck, the hairpiece that put her hair up in an off-side ponytail, her white boots, bolero jacket, skirt, even the scar that passed down her left eye. He could surmise her beauty in some form of media; however, he definitely felt some form of hostility from her unlike the other three. Must've done something to piss her off.
"Oi, kid," a gruff voice broke Desmond's thoughts, "what are you doing here?"
Desmond blinked twice, realizing he'd walked a lot further that he'd thought. He saw that he was in a wide room, cylindrical in shape and hot as the center of a volcano's core. How the hell can anyone work in this heat?
"Kid, I'll ask once more; what are you doing here?" Desmond turned his head toward the voice. Said voice belonged to a gruff man of about twenty-nine, who had soot-black hair which was cut semi-short and a beard that reflected a burning fire in its black roots.
Might as well tell him what I need. "I'm here for the weaponsmith, and I assume that would be you," he said. The man nodded, his beady eyes holding a smith's sharpness to them.
"That I am," said the weaponsmith. "What can I do you for right now?"
Desmond smirked as he pulled out multiple pieces of paper and a pen to draw it with. The pen flew across the paper like an eagle soared toward its prey. His yellow eyes shined with glee as his ideas came to light on the brownish parchment.
After nearly ten minutes, his drawings were finished. He handed them to the smith, whose eyes widened at the detail and uniqueness of the weapons.
"I must say," he began, "I've never seen anyone request weapons like these." Desmond saw the faint form of a smile through the smith's beard. "I'll get to work right away on them."
The smith nailed the drawings to a wall near him and began to work the forge, the fires bellowing upward like the flames of a dragon would burn a town or field. The loud clanging of metal against metal filled the stifling silentness of the room, which brought a musical tone to the walls. Desmond felt like he was being lured into a lullaby, and he wasn't complaining.
He found a crate to sit on not far away from the forge. His eyes felt heavy, his arms sluggish. He must've been more exhausted than he thought when he woke up in the infirmary. Still not too sure how I ended up there, but I have a few ideas. His mouth opened up into a yawn—he was definitely more tired than he previously thought. Glancing back to the smith, who was still working hard on the creations, Desmond allowed himself to fall into a deep slumber.
"Ah, Desmond. There you are." Desmond's eyes widened as he heard the voice of his father behind him. He turned around to see his parents and sister standing, their red colored eyes shining with happiness. Desmond felt himself calming down, as if he had always been where he was.
"What is it, Father?" asked Desmond, noticing his father's smile falter. He put a hand on Desmond's shoulder, his nails extending past into the air. Common trait among his family: freakishly long nails like bat talons.
"Son, there's something you must know about our family," he said with slight grief.
"Anything, Father," said Desmond.
As his father's mouth opened to speak, the scene suddenly changed to him standing in the center of his village, fires crackling and screams ripping through the night air. The screams belonged to him as he saw more dead people around him. A scent arose amidst the chaos—a familiar one that struck a deep cut on his heart.
"Aila! Aila!" He was running back to his house when he found her.
She was ripped apart and was held together by the thinnest of tendons, fresh and dried blood caking the ground underneath her. Her eyes held an infinite sadness while her mouth held the shape of terror. He reached out to her, but his vision snapped to darkness, the fires still crackling with a mad cackle close by her lifeless corpse.
Desmond snapped awake and nearly fell off the crate he had slept on. His eyesight was dark, though the afternoon sun was still breaking through them. Covering them with his hands, tears threatened to fall from his pupils.
It's not my fault. Not my fault. His breathing had become raspy, a common occurrence from the experiments he went through, but it seemed worse with these nightmares he'd recently been having.
No, they wouldn't accept me like this. He pushed the tears back, inhaled and exhaled deeply, and got off the crate. The sun shined through glass windows at the top of the room, bathing the forge in a luminescent white glow. Something reflected the light, catching Desmond's eye.
Are those what I think they are? Approaching the forge he realized that the reflection belonged to what he was hoping for—his weapons made by the smith.
A pair of white and black arm gauntlets rested on the forge's counter. They were made of some form of metal, he couldn't exactly tell what, and the fingertips were open-ended, allowing his talon-like nails to not crack or break. He picked one up, feeling the ice-cold metal chill his skin, and inserted his arm into it. In an instant, small metal needles penetrated the flesh of his arms, blood slightly flowing down past his fingers as he felt the rest pool in his palms. Painful, yet warm. As the final straps were set in place, he could hear the sound of clockwork from within ticking and churning. He lightly brushed a nail over the underside mechanism before a blade shot out from it.
He quickly reeled his finger back as the blade lay flat against his right underarm, the ivory-white color shining brightly against the metal of the gauntlet. It extended past his nails and his elbow in the other direction. Just what I ordered.
His joy knew no bounds as he attached the other arm gauntlet to him. The process repeated, except this time the needles felt painless and cold.
There was something else on the forge table that he hadn't noticed. It was black in color, sleek and arrow-shaped in design, and a set of bolts lay next to it. His lips formed a fanged grin as he picked up the weapon, examining it with rapt attention.
"Attach that to your left or right wrist, kid." The booming voice of the smith startled Desmond, his hands nearly dropping the black weapon. He looked at his right arm and saw a split on the top of the gauntlet.
Must be where it fits, he thought as he attached the weapon to the top of the gauntlet. A click sounded off as the weapon slid into place at the base of the split. Two short and sharp bow legs snapped out from the side, both black as obsidian. A small string connected them to the center of the weapon.
My, oh my, is this a beauty.
"Oh, and kid," Desmond turned to face the smith, "here's a bag for the bolts." The smith threw a medium-sized beige knapsack to Desmond. The knapsack felt smooth and soft, almost velvet-like. Desmond retracted the crossbow, though not without difficulty.
"Actually, are there by chance small pouches for me to house the bolts instead? I still intend on using this knapsack, though." The smith nodded and handed him about ten or fifteen rectangular pouches. They were a perfect fit for the bolts.
"Thank you," he said, bowing deeply. An idea came to mind inside him.
I wonder… He lightly flicked his arms, but nothing happened. Hm, thought not. Well that was an idea shot down the drain.
"If you're trying to move them, the gauntlets are linked to your nervous system. Since you asked for them like that, you should be able to figure it out." Desmond decided to try that, focusing his thoughts into moving the blades to different sides on the gauntlets. A few seconds passed by before the blades complied with his mental request, but they glided smoothly around to the left and right sides of the gauntlets. That would be a nice asset to have.
"Ah, such a wonderful design," said Desmond as he glided his nails across the arm gauntlets. The intricate detail of the arms were far more advanced than he had first seen. Instead of it being just a mysterious metal, Desmond could see carvings etched all around the arms, but it was still difficult to make them out.
"I don't recall asking for these. What are these markings here for?" he asked the smith.
The smith, who had returned to his forge when Desmond was inspecting the markings, said, "Those are to enhance your combat capabilities when you mix your semblance with it." Desmond raised an eyebrow at that.
"By the way, what is your semblance, if you don't mind me asking you? The needles were an incredibly weird request from a student, you know?" asked the smith.
Desmond lifted up his right arm gauntlet, the white blade on it shining from the sunlight, and thrust it into his stomach. The smith nearly dropped his weapons in shock at the sudden action.
What the hell did he do that for! he thought. Desmond then calmly took out the blade, and as his blood ran down the blade and into the markings, he felt the gauntlets start to pulsate with energy. It felt alive, separate and cognitive.
"Dust almighty, that's a grotesque thing to have," said the smith in a hushed tone.
Desmond's bat ears twitched as he heard the smith's voice, angry that he had said that. The gauntlet began to pulsate more violently as Desmond approached the smith, the blood nearly singing to him.
"Kill him… Doesn't understand our pain… But we do…" The blood spoke in a voice that seemed familiar to Desmond, but he didn't care. The smith needed to die. He raised his arms as the blood nearly screamed at him.
"KILL HIM! DO IT! YOU WILL FEAST ON HIM!!" Desmond gasped as he realized who the voice was: It was him, yet it was dark and gurgled. Not himself. He changed course as he realized that his blades were closing in on the smith's head. The sudden jerk had caused the blades to cut through a crate next to the smith, a silent but powerful wind accompanying the slicing of the wooden object.
"What are you thinking!?" shrieked the smith as he brandished his hammer at Desmond. The stench of fear permeated the room, invading Desmond's nostrils in waves.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know…" muttered Desmond as he rubbed his forehead. Sweat was rolling down it again, and it was cold like last time as well. Dammit, what the hell's happening to me? He had to get out of there before he did something worse.
"I—" The smith's hammer narrowly missed Desmond's head and crashed into the wall behind him, creating a loud metallic bang!. He took the message and left the forge room.
Desmond sped through the hallways as students quickly got out of his way. They had looks of fear at both him and his weapons, causing a flood of whispers to hit his bat ears.
"What kinda weapons are those?" one student said.
"Those things on his arms look scary! Maybe we should just stay out of his way," said another.
"How could a Faunus like him ever be accepted here?" That comment drove Desmond over the boiling point.
His head snapped in the direction of the third voice so hard some of the students could swear they heard his neck break. His eyes had turned a yellow so bright the sun would have been darker, and his irises thinned into slits as he found the owner of the third voice. It was a student with straight blonde hair, green eyes, a thin face, and a look of smug resentment in his eyes when he realized the Faunus had heard him.
They approached him with a speed so fast it seemed they'd disappeared before popping back up in front of their face. A metal-covered hand found his throat and hoisted him off the ground. The Faunus' black, talon-like nails began to dig into his flesh as his voice found little ground to breathe on. The metal felt like it was blocking air in his throat. It almost hurt to breathe.
"Listen here, and listen well," said the Faunus as he slightly lowered the student to an eye-to-eye level. "I could care less what you think about me as a person," the Faunus' voice began to lower, "but if you berate me as a Faunus, I will make your life a living nightmare. Don't you dare insult my kind again." The Faunus released their grip on the student and walked off, anger basically rolling off of their aura as it became visible to passerby.
Ruby and her team had realized that they had gone through a more physically exhausting day-and-a-half than they previously thought. Desmond was strong, fast, and did not hesitate to kill any of them at the facility. Then again, he wasn't in control of himself, but he was still tough to beat, thought Ruby as she stretched her arms above her head.
She winced as slight pain shot through her. Her ribs hadn't fully healed from the kick she received from Desmond, it seemed. She rubbed her stomach, looking at the bunks of her teammates. Yang and Weiss had fallen asleep soundly in their bunks, Yang lightly snoring and Weiss on her side and her head in her hands.
"Something wrong, Ruby?" said Blake as she looked up from her book. Her yellow eyes gave off a serious look as Ruby sighed at the question.
"It's about Desmond, Blake." Blake closed her book as she fully turned toward Ruby.
"What about him?" she asked as she saw Ruby grasp at the words to say to her.
"Do you think he's going to be alright? With that black blood of his, I mean. It seems inhumane at what he's suffered," said Ruby as she gazed out the window to her left.
Blake gave a small frown as she pondered the question. Would Desmond be alright? Was it really safe to be around him? She knew that she had probably jumped the gun when she had argued with Weiss earlier, but there was something about Desmond that caused her to go off like that. Maybe it's because he's a Faunus that's gone through worse than what I've gone through.
"Well, I can't give a definitive answer, but I think he will be alright." Ruby's face lit up a small bit as Blake said that, but the light started to slowly fade.
"Do you think he despises being a Faunus?"
Blake froze at that. I doubt that, but… it's not uncommon for Faunus hate themselves for what they are. Wanting to be human, but never able to do so.
She knew that feeling all too well. When she was a kid, the White Fang rallies were all she knew to make her feel like she belonged, like she was a person. When she began killing, the feeling grew worse over time. With every kill she made, she felt like she was becoming a monster. It took time, but her leaving the White Fang revitalized the feeling of her not belonging; however, Beacon and Team RWBY had managed to make her feel she did have a place in the world.
Desmond, though, was another story. All they knew about him was that he was a Faunus subjected to painful experiments that caused him to be closer to an animal than a Faunus usually was. Even if he were a normal Faunus, there was still the fact that he was a bat Faunus. That was by no means an easy thing to be burdened with.
In the society of Faunus, the bat Faunus was the rarest type to come across, and this was mainly because they were so reclusive. A few years ago, a rumor spread that the real reason bat Faunus were so rare was because only one family of them existed. That dug up something in Blake's mind. Something she'd heard when she was still in the White Fang.
"Ruby, did Desmond ever say his last name?" Ruby looked over to Blake and shook her head.
"No, he never did. He seemed hesitant in saying."
Blake's eyes widened in mild shock. "Come on, we're going." She leapt off her bunk as Ruby looked at her in confusion.
"Where to?" asked Ruby.
Blake looked at her and replied, "To the library. Something just came up in my head." She opened the door to the halls and left, leaving a slightly panicked Ruby behind.
"Hey, Blake, hold on!" Ruby rushed to slip on her academy clothes before using her semblance to speed up to Blake.
At the library, Blake had rushed to a section she had just recently discovered, and there was one book in particular she was looking for.
"Let's see, where did I… ah, there it is." In the middle of the second highest bookshelf, she found what she was looking for.
It was a large leather-bound book that was enough to fill nearly two history-based encyclopedias. The cover read The History of Faunus and Their Respective Families. Blake remembered hearing about it from students who frequented the library. The pages were smooth and pearl-white. Someone took good care of these books it seemed.
She opened the book and began to speed through the pages. She was looking for something specific. It's got to be here somewhere, but where? These pages were filled with information, some of which Blake questioned should have even been added in. Mindless rabble about tiny families that made no discernable impact on the Faunus community. When she turned to the D section, there was only one family written there. She'd found what she was looking for.
The Faunus family of Dontiae
Residing in Vacuo, this family of bat Faunus were extremely reclusive and were known to despise any form of creature who was not a part of their family. It is heavily advised that under no circumstances should one approach the Dontiae family. One may very well be forever lost in their forest of darkness.
However, there are a few important things to note of the Dontiae family:
I.) They are the only family of bat Faunus to exist in all of Remnant, of which there are no known reasons as to why. They were also the most dangerous type of Faunus to exist; murdering trespassers was a common occurrence within their forest.
II.) They shared traits not uncommon to those of a vampire, with brown bat ears, red eyes, vampiric teeth, and talon-like nails being just a few such traits. Many speculate that they were more animalistic than any other Faunus family.
III.) They based themselves off a royal hierarchy, except unlike a standard hierarchy, they were all of the same level, but there was a head of the family, which was typically male.
It should be heavily noted that, with their reclusiveness, it has proven immensely challenging for researchers to bring to light information that is not already listed in this section. Also, a thing to take into consideration when discussing the Faunus families of Remnant, when the highest Faunus families would meet and discuss the events concerning their species, the Dontiae family were always kept at arm's length with these matters. It is unknown if it was out of fear or something worse.
Why does this section speak of the Dontiae family as if they were gone? That's because they are gone. Teams of hunters who attempted to brace the forest ended up finding the Dontiae village in smoking ruins, with massacred bodies everywhere. No survivors were found. This discovery has been all but blacked out from the history of Vacuo, and who can truly blame them?
Blake felt something within her weep. Desmond, the Faunus they had rescued, was a member of the Dontiae family. No wonder she felt uncomfortable when she first saw him. Still, something seemed off concerning his village. A village couldn't just burn down that quickly, now, could it? How could a Faunus not have knowledge of aura and semblance? Sure, humans sometimes didn't at first, but Faunus, in her experiences at least, typically used aura and semblance to survive. There was no way Desmond had acquired his semblance from the experiments, was there?
Her thoughts were cut short as she heard Ruby approach her.
"Blake… why did you… run so quickly?" questioned the panting girl.
Blake closed the book as she returned it to its shelf. "I had to look up the Faunus families of Remnant. When you had told me Desmond had never said his last name, combined with the fact that he's a bat Faunus, something sparked in my mind, and that book confirmed my suspicions."
"Desmond is a member—possibly the only surviving one—of the Dontiae family. You know who that is, right?" Ruby sheepishly shook her head as Blake sighed.
"Well, all you need to know is that they are, or rather were, the most dangerous family of Faunus to exist. They were worse than the White Fang is today." Ruby's eyes widened at that.
"So, you're saying that Desmond is worse than the White Fang?" Blake nodded.
"Man," whispered a dejected Ruby. She wanted to be his friend, but with that reveal, did she really? He's possibly more alone than I was when Mom died. I don't want that.
"I don't care about that, Blake. He's in a place worse than I was a time ago, and I will not stand by and let him drown. Not like I did before." Blake looked at Ruby, incredulity heavy in her gaze.
"I don't know, Ruby. I may have told Weiss that he was out of control at that facility, but what I read is making me think that he shouldn't really be here."
"Are you seriously siding with Weiss on this subject?" Ruby's voice was starting to reflect anger.
Blake shook her head. "No, I'm just saying that Weiss may be right in some way. He's incredibly dangerous, more so than anything we know of to exist."
Ruby crossed her arms in annoyance. "I'm still gonna be his friend. He needs one, and nobody is helping him right now, not to mention we aren't helping either." She left the library, with Blake frowning sadly at Ruby's word.
She's right, she thought. Maybe it really wouldn't hurt to befriend Desmond. Either way, Blake knew changes—for better or worse—were approaching Beacon and Team RWBY.