Child of Nothing Ch. 3: Pending
Not a whole lot to address, except to say thank you for getting me over 20 followers! Now let's get going again.
Derek woke up from his shaky sleep, and peaked outside. It was still early enough for him to go outside without a high concern of anyone finding him. He quickly pushed aside his cover, and stepped outside.
He thought about taking to the sky, but he actually needed to gather some supplies. His meat and vegetation supplies were starting to run low. Which meant no flight until he had to return, which by then was probably going to be too late to actually be able to fly. So that meant a day of walking, which was never any fun.
Derek wrapped his cloak around him tightly, making sure that only his eyes were visible. If he needed fire, he had a quick knot that he could pull to expose his mouth. But for now, his claws, sword, spear, and tail would suffice.
He walked outside, and checked around the bushes that grew berries around his hideout. Not surprisingly, all of them still had nothing edible on them. Derek just ignored them, and pushed past the bushes. He didn't walk for much longer until he found a set of bushes that held berries. On top of that, Derek remembered that the leaves were also edible. He quickly pulled out his sword, and started to cut off certain sections. He finished up, and reached for the inside of his cloak. He quickly placed all of his items inside of it, and tucked it away again.
He walked on, quickly shredding apart any and all of the bushes that held those leaves and berries. Before long, his bag was reaching a point of fullness. He kept his nose to the air, and silently stalked along. His main hope was that some kind of animal would stroll in. Technically the Grimm were edible, but tracking them down was tough when they always ran.
He heard some branches snap, and quickly climbed up a tree. He looked down, and watched as a deer walked into view. He quickly spun around his spear, and leveled it carefully. He tossed it forward, and caught the deer in the chest. It didn't drop instantly, and instead it tried to run. Derek quickly jumped down, and glided directly over to it. He quickly swung his sword forward, and cut the deer's throat. It finally fell to the ground, dead, and Derek just smiled slightly. He quickly slung the deer over his shoulder, and started to walk back.
He got along fairly far, but heard even more rustling. He quickly scaled another tree, and made sure the deer was slung very carefully over his shoulder. He quickly raised a burning hand to the open wounds, and cauterized the open wounds.
"Ozpin said sweep this area," a male voice said.
"Clearly he didn't come this way," a female one added in.
"My nose is telling me otherwise right now," the male one replied. Wait, I know those voices. Ah shit. He quickly sheathed his sword and spear, and remained dead still as the people came into view. If his previous luck was anything to go off of, it was going to hold too this level. Gwen, Nathan, and of course, Monica, entered into the clear.
"What do you mean?" Monica asked, her interest peaked. Definitely wasn't Monica who was talking earlier, meaning Gwen is the only one who doubted me. Why didn't they listen to Gwen?
"I mean," Nathan continued. "He was here. No, not was. The smell is still strong. Either he was here recently, or he's still-." Nathan paused, and then looked straight up. Derek sighed, and jumped down from his hiding spot. "D?" Nathan asked. "What's with the new look?" Derek tossed aside his deer, and made mental note of where it landed. A bit dusty later on, but it'll do all the same.
"Derek?" Monica asked slowly.
"Bzz," Derek said, choosing to replicate the incorrect game show sound that he often heard from Gwen's scroll. "Guess again."
"Quit messing with us D," Gwen said, her hand resting just over her axe.
"Once again, wrong answer. Any other guesses?"
"Drake," Nathan finally said, pulling out his axe. Drake just nodded, and unsheathed his sword, spear, and whipped around his tail. He quickly took off his cloak, and tossed it over the deer {in hopes to cover it from the bugs}, and flexed his spikes.
"Derek, I know you're just trying to-," Monica tried.
"Wrong answer again," Drake growled. "You have no idea what it is that I'm trying to accomplish. Simple fact is, no one does. No one besides me, and a select few. Now, are you going to back away or am I going to have to convince you?" Nathan spur around his axe, and Gwen grabbed her own. Monica reluctantly pulled out her spear, unwilling to battle with Drake. Unfortunately for her, Drake had no such issues.
Gwen ran forward, and flung out a blast of wind. Derek easily ducked out of the way, and stepped towards her. Gwen wasn't expecting such a passive response, and she had to stop for a moment. The moment she did, Drake's spear went hurling towards her face. She easily deflected it, and then he quickly stepped right in front of her. He quickly knocked the axe away, and then slammed his fist into her temple.
Before he could even turn, something wrapped around his feet. He looked down, and noticed the ice sitting there. Not even bothering to heat up, he quickly broke out of the ice and ran straight at Nathan. Nathan was already raising his axe in defense, and Drake just pulled his feet out from underneath him. He quickly brought the pommel of his sword into Nathan's temple, and started to stand up. Before he was fully upright, his sword became too electric to hold.
He quickly tossed it away, and turned to face Monica. Before he could even try anything, she blasted a bolt of lightning straight at him. He quickly ducked, and flexed his claws. He ran forward without a second thought, and Monica thrust her spear straight at him. It wouldn't have done anything, but she used it to conduct a bolt of lightning straight into his chest. Drake went flying back, and slammed into a tree. He looked too his left, and saw that his cloak and deer were right there. I can either fight to hurt, or I can run. Drake made the choice, and puffed out a solid line of flames. Monica jumped back, but then noticed that Gwen and Nathan were still blacked out and went over to them. Drake quickly grabbed his cloak, and then slung the deer back over his shoulder. He took off in a sprint, and didn't look back.
Hidden Cave: Several Minutes Later
Derek came sprinting in, and quickly placed the deer on the ground. Faster then he had ever done before, Derek placed all of his cover in the way again. He quickly puffed out a small ball of flames to light the fire, and then walked over to the deer. Choosing to ignore the events that had taken place for now, Derek quickly butchered the deer and placed all of the pieces of meat into some leaves that he had grabbed, and made sure that they were covered correctly.
As soon as he had finished, his mind seemed to drag himself closer to the events that had just taken place. He had just fought his three closest friends, and won. But he had willingly fought them instead of going with them. How badly did he want this?
Beacon Academy: Medical Ward: 30 Minutes Later
Monica sat next to Nathan and Gwen's beds, her eyes trained directly on them. Roxanne, the nurse on hand, had said that both of them would wake up soon and that it was just a simple concussion. But that wasn't what was worrying Monica.
It had never been more apparent to her that she was truly hunting Drake. The speed in which he had decided to fight his friends. The ease with which he laid down the fire. Everything pointed to what he called his demon.
The thing that should be made apparent about Derek was that he had two sides. The first side was Derek, the protective friend who was trying to shake a rough start to life. Then there was Drake, the persona that embodied any and every horrible stereotype that would be associated with a Grimm hybrid.
The door to the medical bay opened up, and some familiar faces walked in.
"Hey Moni," the cheery leader of team RWBY said. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine," Monica said instantly.
"Moni," Yang said, staring her friend straight in the eyes. "You're an awful lier. Have been since Signal. Now, spill."
"It's really him," Monica said, keeping an eye on Gwen and Nathan. "It's not Derek. It's the monstrous side of him, Drake." Team RWBY went silent, and looked around awkwardly. "He avoided any killing blows, but I wonder how much was his conscious of legality?"
"Don't talk like that," Blake said, her expression darkening. "He has to still care about us. I'm guessing that he didn't attack you right away, he hid." Monica nodded, and Blake just pondered it. "Drake may be the monster, but he's not all bad. There's no such thing as pure evil. Drake and Derek are merely different pieces of the same puzzle. They all equal the same thing. That thing has to care for us."
"Wake up Blake," Weiss said angrily. "Gwen and Nathan are concussed, and he tried to kill Monica."
"There's no way he would ever try to kill Monica," Ruby spoke up, allying herself with Blake. "He loves her." Monica let out a small noise, but no one noticed it.
"So blowing out a stream of flames at her isn't an attempt on her life? On Gwen and Nathan's lives as well, since they couldn't even run. Yang, what do you think?" The brawler was unusually silent, but then she finally started to talk.
"For once, I'm with Weiss," Yang said. "Nothing about Drake's actions read, 'good guy.' Everything reads someone who is willing to kill."
"The fire was probably to get away," Blake said, angrily turning to her partner. "He didn't blow it directly at Monica, he blew it at the ground. Then he grabbed his supplies and ran. We've all seen Derek and Drake fight. If he was really going for the kill, he wouldn't have left anything to chance." The four girls continued to argue, while Monica just looked at her two teammates sadly. She didn't know what side to believe.
End: Questions {even though I know what ones to expect this time}, comments, follows, favorites, and feedback is appreciated.
