A/N: It was a combination of health, life, procrastination and a poorly written first attempt at this chapter that delayed it for so long, but it looks like I'm about to have about two months off from most of my working requirements so I should, provided my health stays constant and my life remains in the small calm I am experiencing, be able to update at a more rapid pace I am excited to get into more of the volume one cannon and some of you may be pleased to know I am actually warming up to volume three, I've gone back through it a few times and noticed things I missed before and it made the experience over all better and gave me a whole new number of ideas on how I can adapt it into this story, I'm excited.
Also, a quick reply to Dragon God xxx and anyone else who was having trouble picturing Midnight's weaponry, the pistols mimic standard berretta 9mm's, the only visual differences being the small hook on the under barrel and the more angled grip, the blades actually change in this chapter so I won't give a real world similarity. Also, I am about as coordinated at drawing as a drunk toddler, despite that I do enjoy it so I am practicing, so I might draw them sometime in the future right now they are pretty much out of the cards.
Also if anyone has any name ideas for the weapons, please give me them, I am having a lot of trouble with naming them.
*Edit* So, Jayce has been inadvertently based off another fan fictions OC and they are eerily similar, so 'The Love of a Rose' by SGSCCoputerGeek is a good fiction if you're looking for something nice and lighthearted! Also, I've alreyad spoken to the author about this, so please don't start shit.
"Bend your legs more," Qrow instructed flatly "Keep your arm straight you won't hit anything if you can't keep solid form."
Midnight grit his teeth, it had been almost five years since he had left everything in Vale behind to become Qrow's apprentice and after a fear year long mission, Qrow was finally getting some time to rest, that did not however transition to Midnight getting some time to rest.
The sun was beginning to set on the horizon they were still a day's travel away from Vale and had pitched camp for the night so Qrow could give Midnight more lessons.
It was the usual routine, Midnight would hold a standard stance for firing one of his guns with the other still holstered, in this case he stood shoulder facing target to make himself a small target and have effective aim. The kick was the weights Qrow put on his shoulder, hand and elbow in order to try and make them buckle, they were basically buckets of water filled to a certain weight and then hung over his arm.
Sweat beaded on Midnights brow as he clenched his teeth a little harder to keep his arm from shaking, trying to overcome the fatigue through force of will alone, Qrow watched the boys face for a few seconds, he upturned his chin slightly as he walked over to Midnights position and kicked his leg out slightly, the blow barely made contact with Midnights leg but it was enough of a distraction that Midnights arm buckled and water splashed against the ground.
Midnight didn't make a sound in protest, that was how it went, it wouldn't do him any good to be holding the stance if something as little as that could break it, although he had held it for longer than he had ever done so before, so he took the small win for what it was.
After the same exercise was repeated on the other arm, Midnight and Qrow would spar in hand to hand combat and then settle in for the night. Midnight actually enjoyed the hand to hand sparring matches, in the last four years he had improved almost all of his abilities greatly, although his aim still needed work and he had yet to attend a mission with any real danger involved. He had faith that Qrow would let him fight the moment he was ready and not a second earlier and that was enough for him.
He had grown a fair amount in his time away, now standing just shy of Qrow's chest, the scar on his lower cheek contrasted rather heavily against his skin, the dark brown mark often made him think of Ruby, what she was doing, how her training was coming along, Qrow had told him very little about his old friend, she had apparently taken up the scythe and already built her own weapon he knew little else than that, but was quite eager to get the chance to talk to her again.
As Qrow and Midnight wordlessly circled each other, Midnight's mind continued to wander, he thought about what Jayce was doing, he'd been in limited contact with the boy since he had been given his weapons, although he planned to get his own scroll when he got back to Vale tomorrow.
Qrow charged him and Midnight snapped out of his thoughts and jumped back, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the spar, Qrow continued to rush him, Midnight sidestepped and launched into a quick punch, Qrow caught the blow in his hand and Midnight rolled forward, palm planting on the ground as his boot flew towards Qrow's face, Qrow was forced to let go of his hand and jump back to avoid the blow.
Midnight flipped over and launched forward, transitioning into his own set of blows, Qrow blocked, dodged and ducked under them, Midnight hopped back quickly and spun into a powerful roundhouse, Qrow met the blow with his own and the two held the position for a moment before Qrow dropped first and spun in, he dropped into a low sweep and Midnight's eyes widened as his legs were taken out from under him, he grit his teeth and threw his legs up spinning his body into a back flip as he threw a wild punch at Qrow's head, the man dodged but it bought Midnight enough time to land and block Qrow's follow up blow. The two split apart to collect themselves a moment and a gust of wind blew through the clearing they were using.
Midnight's nose twitched slightly and his ear flicked slightly for a moment, his eyes widened slightly in realization and he dived forward as a dark growl met his ears, he felt the wind of a blow fly over his head as he rolled to his feet, he pulled the hammer back on his gun as he drew it and rose to his feet, the gunshot echoed around the clearing as he put a single round into the large ursa that had emerged from the trees behind him.
The beast simply growled in annoyance as the bullet pinged off the bone covered shoulder, Midnight drew the second gun and launched off his foot running in a wide circle around the ursa and firing a constant stream of bullets into it, thanks to his speed a few rounds found its unarmored side and it let out a roar of pain and charged, he shifted foot twisting in as he launched forward towards the ursa, he spun the pistols in his hand and initiated their change as the ursa lifted a clawed hand and threw it towards him, he dropped into a slide and blow flew over his head his arms whipped around and sliced through the tendons on the back of each of its legs and it fell forward with a thud. Midnight flipped to his feet and slid to a stop as Qrow descended from the air and cut the ursa cleanly in half.
Qrow rested his sword on his shoulder as the monster melted away at his feet "How about we call that match a draw?"
Midnight sank to his knees and with a sigh as he attempted to regain his breath "Sounds…great." He replied between pants.
Normally a lone grimm wouldn't give him this much trouble, but five hours of training into a loan grimm, yes, that much would give him trouble.
"Alright let's get something to eat, I'll give you the day off tomorrow." Qrow called as the pair moved towards their packs, Qrow arrived first and began rummaging around in the outer pockets and Midnight plopped onto the ground heavily.
Qrow held a small metal flask towards him and Midnight accepted with a grateful smile "Good work today too, your setting records I might have to bring you on an actual mission soon."
Midnight watched his teacher as he downed the contents of the flask in a few hasty gulps "Really? I think I need more work, my forms still sloppy when I move and I can barely use my knives at all."
"Luck is a form of skill too," Qrow replied with a shrug "Don't put so much focus on holding a set form, in fact try to abandon form altogether, I know that contradicts me teaching you forms, but the best kind of attacks are the ones that are so fast or unpredictable they can't be dodged or blocked."
"Is that why you don't take a stance when you fight with your sword?" Midnight asked
"Exactly, taking a stance tells people before the fight even starts what style you plan on using anyone who has studied that style won't be surprised by your movements, that's why people started melding styles in the first place there is no right or wrong in a fight to the death, just the one who leaves alive and the one who doesn't." Qrow explained as he dug around his pack for food, Midnight mulled over the words as he started a small fire.
"But Huntsmen fight to uphold justice, even in life or death situations we are trying to fight for what's right." Midnight responded resolutely.
"It's easy to stick to your morals when you're fighting Grimm, but huntsmen fight people too," Qrow paused and held up his fist "When you're fighting someone that wholeheartedly wants nothing more than to end your life if you don't fight with the same kind of resolve you'll be overwhelmed in seconds, your morals just float away in those moments." He blew out an opened his hand as if something had simply floated from his hand.
"So sometimes a fight for survival is necessary," Midnight paused for a moment "If I had to choose between my life and my morals I'd choose my life, every time, a dead man can't do anything to help anyone."
"We'll see about that," Qrow replied with a shrug as he placed a pair of plain silver cans down beside him "It's easy to talk about but words are, above everything else, cheap beside action."
Midnight nodded his head in response as the firelight danced behind his eyes "Have you been in fights like that?" He asked finally, the question having been burning on his tongue since Qrow began the conversation.
"I have," Qrow sighed as he stirred a pot of soup "A few times actually, more times than I care to admit."
"You don't seem all that distraught about it." Midnight commented.
Qrow shook a small silver flask, Midnight could smell the alcohol in it from where he was and his nose wrinkled "This helps." He chuckled
"How very cliché." Midnight teased as rolled back and looked at the sky.
"Well, I'm not much like my brother, never found an amazing girl to settle down with an have little brats," Qrow replied taking a swig of his flask "Don't take this the wrong way, I think my life is pretty good, I'm free to do what I want most of the time, it's easy to live in the moment while you're there."
Midnight shifted slightly to watch Qrow's expressions while he spoke "But right now, I'm cooking soup as far as engaging moments go it's low on the list, so your mind wanders."
"So, where does the great Qrow Branwen's mind wander?" Midnight asked
"Lots of places," Qrow responded with a chuckle "What life would be like if I had more guts when I was younger, before the grizzled huntsmen exterior settled in," The pair chuckled "I wonder what'd it be like to want to go home every day, just to have something a little more important than myself to protect."
"Don't get all emotional on me, you certainly aren't drunk enough for that." Midnight quipped.
"Hah," Qrow barked in response "Well, your right about that," He conceded as he took another drink, far off look in his eye returning as he eyed the soup bubbling away in front of him "But you asked so I'm answering. That's what the 'great Qrow Branwen's' mind wonders about."
"You said you wondered what would happen if you had more guts when you were younger," Midnight prompted and Qrow took another drink as he halved the soup he had made "More guts regarding what?"
Qrow's face screamed 'of course.' and he rolled his eyes for a moment "What does any young guy want the guts to do," He noticed Midnights confused look and sighed "Girls kid, talking to girls."
"You don't seem like someone who'd have trouble in that department." Midnight replied with a frown.
"Talking up a girl who I won't remember in a week is a very different issue." Qrow replied with a chuckle.
"I don't get it." Midnight admitted with a shrug.
"Well, to be honest it's kind of like choosing a weapon," Qrow admitted as he ate, pausing to swallow before he continued "It's something you have to experience, but one day, you'll meet a girl and she'll be amazing to you, she'll have a smile that weakens your knees, a laugh that's better than your favorite song it won't matter how stupid you make yourself look, as long as you hear that laugh it's all worth it, I'm talking about a girl like that."
"That sounds," Midnight paused "Kind of amazing, even if girls are gross."
Qrow let out a loud laugh "You'll understand when you're a little older."
"I'll take your word for it I guess." Midnight replied as he upturned his bowl and drank the last of his soup.
"I'll take the first watch you sleep first, got a big day tomorrow." Qrow instructed as he leaned his back against a tree and laid his sword across his knees, slowly sharpening the edge of the blade.
The rhythmic sound of a whetstone sliding over the edge of the blade worked as a relaxant for Midnight as he settled in more and rolled over and finally fell asleep.
They traded the watch three times during the night, they didn't encounter another Grimm.
Midnight yawned tiredly as he walked through the streets of Vale, he didn't have a destination in particular, Qrow had told him to keep himself occupied while he showed Ruby something and he hadn't even gotten a chance to greet his childhood friend yet, he had already bought his scroll though and Qrow said he'd tell him when they were done.
Midnight examined the small device in his hand before returning it back to his pocket, still nothing from Qrow he glanced around himself quickly, he was on a familiar street and he smiled to himself as he approached a store he hadn't seen in four years.
From Dust Till Dawn, was still very much the same, even the old man at the counter seemed to have not aged at all, although he wasn't alone this time, a young boy stood next to him fiddling with a small device with a frown marring his features.
"Welcome to From Dust Till Dawn." The boy droned with a practiced boredom.
"Really? That's a the greeting I get after four years? Not even a 'hi Midnight how are you? Glad you're not dead.'" Midnight tilted his head and smirked as Jayce's head snapped up and his eyes widened at the sight of him.
"I see your still a huge nerd." Midnight noted calmly
"Oh, hah, you decide to become a comedian cause being a huntsmen's to hard?" Jayce retorted playfully.
"You'd pass a pretty good comedian yourself you know," Midnight replied as he gave Jayce's grandfather a quick smile as a greeting "So what grand device do I need to fix for you now?"
"You sneezing on one of my weapons was hardly fixing it." Jayce retorted gesturing for Midnight to follow him into the back of the store, the faunus boy complied quickly.
"Well, it worked after I sneezed on it didn't it?" Midnight prodded playfully.
"I would have figured out dust was jamming the mechanism eventually on my own," Jayce responded stubbornly "I didn't need you to mucus blast it."
"It's an underestimated technique, it's a perfect conversation starter and apparently it forms friendships too." Midnight returned, gesturing between the two of them.
Jayce just laughed and rolled his eyes "I'll be sure to try that when I get to Beacons weapon smithing division." He chuckled.
"Ah, yes, use my techniques it will please me." Midnight replied sagely as he took a seat Jayce offered him, the back of the store was a simple two bedroom home and a kitchen with a table built into the wall, where Midnight currently say whilst Jayce made tea.
"Okay enough with the jokes," Jayce laughed "How have the last four years treated you? I got a few of your letters, I still think you should hurry up and get a scroll though."
"Tada!" Midnight removed the device and placed it on the table "I have finally joined the rest of the high class normal population and acquired my own device."
"Great, now I can spam you with pictures of cats." Jayce barked in response as he set down and slid a mug to Midnight who took a quick sip.
"Why cats?" Midnight asked in confusion.
Jayce's eyes flicked to his ears in a simple gesture of are you serious?
"Oh, right, dog ears take you all four years to come up with that one?" Midnight responded boredly.
"More like the last forty seconds," Jayce replied with a chuckle as he punched his contact details into the scroll "You still haven't really answered my question, how's the life of an apprentice huntsmen?"
"Difficult," Midnight answered truthfully "Every day is filled with constant training exercises, in fact my muscles probably remember the movements so well I could fight an ursa in my sleep."
"Have you fought many Grimm?" Jayce asked curiously
"Five in total since I left," Midnight replied "Oh, wait no six, an ursa popped out of nowhere yesterday."
"What kind of Grimm were they?" Jayce asked in excitement.
"Beowolves are pretty common, I've killed three of them on my own," Midnight answered "I've helped Qrow kill two Boarbatusks and the ursa yesterday we took down together, although I think I could have handled it on my own."
"Well, a few of my buddies in combat schools haven't even seen a Grimm yet, you might be some kind of prodigy you know?" Jayce noted with a grin.
"Yeah, that grin on your face makes you seem really genuine." Midnight replied in response.
"Well, it helps to have one of the best huntsmen around as a teacher I guess," Jayce replied "I wasn't kidding when I said other kids your age haven't even seen Grimm yet though."
Midnight shrugged "So, what about you? How's the weapon smithing coming along?"
"Well, to be honest pretty good, I'm studying in Signal's advanced weapon smithing program and my grades are pretty good," Jayce responded "That thing I was working on when you walked in is one of my final projects, I need to make two weapons for legitimate huntsmen to test and judge, the first one at the end of this year and the second by the end of my studies in another few years."
"You had a fair number of weapons last time I was here, why not just use them?" Midnight asked
"The new teachers all…eccentric, she wants the weapons to be built custom as in have their own uniqueness and feel." Jayce put most of the description in quotations.
"Then you can use mine," Midnight offered "You built them and I actually want you to add an extra function if it doesn't make it unique I don't think she even knows what that means."
"I guess that'll work," Jayce nodded before his eyes shifted so slight excitement "But what was that about an extra function, what do you need?"
"I want to be able to put the blades together, basically I want to be able to turn it into a large sword." Midnight responded simply.
"You don't seem like the type that relies on brute force for attacks, if anything smaller easier to handle weapons and speed would suit you better." Jayce replied professionally.
"Exactly, to be perfectly frank a great sword will never suit my style of fighting." Midnight admitted simply.
"So why add the feature it's pointless right?" Jayce asked in confusion.
"Even if it'll never suit my style of fighting doesn't translate to I can't use it at all," Midnight replied simply "In fact my opponents will assume I can use the weapon therein lies the weapon itself."
Jayce's eyes widened in understanding and he grinned "I see, if they think you fight using a large sword they won't expect speed, they'll expect power at a fundamental level they will be unprepared for your attacks and you can easily switch to lighter weapon."
"Qrow always says that the best attacks are either to fast or too unpredictable to ever be blocked or dodged." Midnight replied with a chuckle as he untied the holsters and set his guns down on the table "I'll leave that to you."
"I should be able to get them ready by tomorrow, I have a…well, let's just call it an appointment later that I can't avoid so it'll take a little longer than expected to add the function." Jayce responded simply and Midnight nodded.
"I'm not sure how long Qrow plans to stay here but that shouldn't be a problem." The faunus replied calmly.
Jayce sent him a quick wave as he gathered the weapons and Midnight exited the room with a quick wave in return before moving back out onto the street, his stomach growled at him and Qrow had yet to contact him, so his next mission became finding something to eat.
Midnight checked his wallet quickly, making sure he had at least a decent amount of money on him as he wandered, it occurred to him that he'd never actually bought food from a restaurant before, he hadn't ever had spending money when he was younger a small part of his mind contemplated going wild with his money and just buying as much as he could and figuring it out later, but the larger rational part won over and he decided to search for something on the cheaper side.
With his mind focused elsewhere he wasn't paying much attention to what was in front of him when he felt something slam into him, his mind snapped back into focus and he looked down at the ground in front of him to see a girl about his age glaring up him, she looked like she'd be a little taller than him and was dressed in mostly black, a few patches of haphazardly stitched on multicolored cloth decorated her shirt and pants.
"Uh, sorry," Midnight said quickly as he held out his hand, the girl eyed it for a moment before quickly getting to her own feet "I wasn't paying close enough attention to where I was going." He scratched the back of his head and gave her and apologetic smile.
She opened her mouth to say something before a hand clasped over her mouth and she was pulled into the air quite violently, Midnight stood frozen for a moment in confusion, the situation had escalated so quickly he wasn't sure how to respond, but judging from the way the girl was kicking she clearly didn't have good relationship with whoever had grabbed her.
Midnight gave his head a rough shake and stepped forward quickly, he grabbed the large mans arm and he paused and turned around, apparently on just now realizing there was someone else there.
"Let her go." Midnight ordered flatly, he didn't understand the situation but there was no way people were allowed to just drag other people off, faunus or not.
The man eyed Midnight for a moment and his eyes seemed to light up with amusement upon seeing the boys ears, Midnight's eyes narrowed and the only movement between the three was the girl still wildly flailing around trying to get herself out of the man's grip. He dropped her abruptly and she hit the concrete of the sidewalk with a thud, the landing knocked the wing out of her and she sucked in air quickly as she struggled to her feet, a small black leather bound book landed a few feet from her.
"Interesting, what's it to you dog? You have a cat fetish or something?" Midnight didn't actually know what that was, he remained silent and watched the man calmly, nothing displaying on his face other than the calculating expression he put there.
The man got much louder after that, calling out loudly about the righteous dog protecting a thieving cat, Midnight rolled his eyes in mild annoyance.
The boy moved with a quick step forward and rotated his leg snapped across and hit the man's side with a loud thud, his shouting was abruptly cut off as the air was forced from his lungs and he glared down at Midnight in anger.
The girl watched in surprise as the boy landed a painfully strong looking kick on the man's side and she paused in her slow going escape to observe the situation, the boy was either very stupid or didn't know who he was dealing with, her money was on the latter but she couldn't be sure.
"Brat, you don't know who I am do you?" The man grunted out
Midnight cocked his head to the side in confusion "Can't say I do, but what it they say about loud dogs again?" Midnight paused for a moment and grinned "Ah yes, I can tell your all bark and no bite."
"Hah, I'm the top enforcer of the biggest criminal this side of the four kingdoms brat," He barked out in a laugh "Today really isn't your day."
Midnight glanced at the sun for a moment "I don't know about that, day's not over yet."
The man growled and charged Midnight quickly, Midnight back stepped out of the way of the first punch and dodged the second just as quickly before darting forward and diving passed him and popping to his feet.
"Too slow old man, should I let you stretch a bit?" Midnight taunted a small grin spreading at the edges of his mouth, the guy in front of him wasn't even near Qrow's speed, Midnight's ear twitched and he rolled to the side as a iron pole clanked on the ground where he was standing he got to his feet and his eyes snapped to his first opponent, he crossed his arms in front of himself as the large mans punch slammed into his forearms and he winced under the strength behind them.
Midnight's eyes darted around himself, he counted four not including the first man he was fighting, his teeth flashed slightly as his eyes flashed a brighter gold and he jumped into the air, flipping over his first opponent and landing with a deft thud.
"I'm surprised you can keep smiling kid," The man chuckled "What's your name you clearly know your way around a fight you might actually be useful."
"Sorry but turning to organized crime isn't really in the cards for me," Midnight replied as he dodged another blow aimed at his head "Besides, you guys haven't got anything on Grimm."
Midnight spun to the left of a blow that came down towards his head and cocked his arm back before slamming it forward, it collided with the henchmen's cheek and the man was sent sprawling at the enforcers feet, his red sunglasses cracking to reveal his unconscious state.
"You've seen Grimm?" The enforcer laughed "What are you the world's smallest huntsmen?"
"Not yet," Midnight rolled his neck in a circle producing a slow popping sound as his eyes locked with the people around him that were still standing "But that's the goal." He finished as he lowered almost completely to the ground, he positioned himself like a sprinter would at the beginning of a race.
He rocked back once and leaned his weight onto his back foot before launching forward, to his opponents he seemed to simply disappear in a flicker and loud crunch as the concrete warped beneath his launch point, he reappeared for only a part of a second, if you blinked you'd miss it, his elbow slammed into the closest thug and his palm shot up and collided with his chin, effectively cutting off the shout of pain by knocking him out, Midnight grabbed the thud by his vest and pivoted slamming the unconscious man into the man immediately beside him.
Midnight shifted the moment his weight transferred over to his foot the only moment he was visible for more than a second as he launched to the side, the enforced struck the air he had been occupying and Midnight planted his feet on the wall of a building to the side of them and launched back, his body rolled twice in the air and he brought he heel down hard, the edge of his boot connected with the top of the man's head with a thunderous slam.
Midnight landed lightly and ran a hand through his hair "I hope you enjoyed the show, but since you got me into this mess I'd like it if you told me why you were being chased in the first place." He called loudly, turning the face the ally beside him with a bored look on his face.
Midnight waited silently, arms crossed over his chest in minor annoyance, he'd barely been in Vale a day and he was fighting off the local thugs, he didn't feel bad about it but somehow he doubted Qrow would think of it as an intelligent decision, for a few more seconds nothing happened and Midnight rolled his eyes and strode forward.
The moment he rounded the corner the girls first flew at his face, not expecting the blow he jerked his head back, it still collided with his left eye, but it could have been much worse, he shifted quickly blocking a kick and stepping forward his hand locking on her arm and pinning it to the wall she froze when he spoke "I'll let you go if you agree to not hit me again."
She nodded her acceptance and he let her go and stepped back, what he wouldn't give to be able to manipulate his aura properly his eye was definitely going to bruise and that meant Qrow was definitely going to find out he'd been fighting.
"So what'd you do to piss of the local thugs and on that note why didn't you help me out, I helped you." Midnight complained.
"Sticking your neck out for other people is a good way to get yourself killed," The girl responded coldly "I know better."
"Clearly you don't, stealing from gangsters will get you killed much faster than helping normal people," Midnight countered logically as he sighed "So, what's your name? Why are they chasing you? What's so important about that book?"
The girls eyes widened slightly, apparently she had thought she'd hidden in from him, he tilted his head "You know what, I don't care about the book, do you know where I can get something to eat I have to kill an unknown amount of time."
"Why would I help you?" The girl asked flatly.
"Because I'll buy you a meal." Midnight responded flatly.
The girl watched him for a few seconds with a silent calculating expression.
It was around a half an hour later when Midnight pushed the curtain for a small noodle shop aside and stepped inside, Midnight froze for a moment as his eyes fell on the shopkeeper, the old man nodded to him "Welcome." He greeted in a practiced tone.
Midnight nodded, concluding that this old man just looked similar to Jayce's grandfather and likely wasn't the same guy as he took a seat, the girl and shopkeeper seemed to be having a staring contest for a few seconds before she simply nodded her head, the old man returned the gesture and disappeared into the back of the shop.
Midnight's head lifted in confusion, what kind of noodles would a man possible make with power tools, he heard a saw and that was most definitely a drill, another door opened and a large bowl stacked quite high with large tuna fish spun atop the counter, the girls eyes practically glowed as she drooled over the meal.
Midnight glanced at the menu "Uh, just give me a regular." He ordered simply as he removed his wallet and placed down the amount for his own meal "How much was that?" He asked nodding to the bowl of fish.
Midnight's face fell when the man simply held up five fingers and he removed the last of the money in his wallet and placed it atop the counter, the girl looked between him and the old man for a few seconds before she received confirmation she was allowed to eat.
Midnight ate slowly and tried to ignore the animalistic feast going on beside him, it had to be a cat faunus thing, he glanced at the girl out of the corner of his eyes, who eats fish heads? He shuddered slightly at the thought and continued to eat.
The girl finished much faster than he did "Blake." She announced suddenly and Midnight glanced up, eyebrows lifting in slight confusion she glanced at him and turned her head away "My name, it's Blake."
Midnight swallowed quickly "Midnight." He introduced.
The two fell into silence after that, Midnight had a number of questions on his tongue but he held them, he got the feeling this girl wasn't one that did a lot of talking but she clearly had something she wanted to ask him.
"Is it true that your learning to become a huntsmen?" Blake asked, almost managing to hide her excitement.
"What happened to helping other people being stupid?" Midnight quipped and she glared at him.
Midnight rolled his eyes, maybe this was another cat faunus thing, cats were notoriously difficult maybe it translated "Yes, I am."
"So you've seen Grimm?" She asked curiously
"Killed Grimm too," He answered simply "I saw my first Grimm, four years ago?" He continued roughly clearly a little unsure.
"Are they as scary as the adults say?" Blake asked again.
Midnight shrugged "I'd be lying if I said they were anything other than scary, they exude dread like a cloud, it's hard to breath around them, they smell like death and you know any mistake is your life."
"But you still want to be a huntsmen despite that?" Blake asked
Midnight shrugged his shoulders and placed his bowl on the counter for the old man to take into the back of the store "I made a promise with a friend to become a hero, I want to protect her and everyone else, I know it's going to be hard and I'm sure quitting will eventually cross my mind but this is what I want to do. I want my life to mean something, even if it only means something to one person that'd be enough."
"That's…very mature of you." Blake inclined her head slightly
"So, what's your story surely there's more to it then liberating literature from gangsters." Midnight asked leaning back and peering at her curiously.
"Nope, just the liberating literature thing basically," Blake chuckled "I'm just trying to survive for now."
"Really? That's it? No grand dreams?" Midnight pouted and deflated slightly "That's boring."
"I take the mature thing back," Blake responded blankly and Midnight simply chuckled "I haven't ever really thought about doing anything else, I just look after myself."
"My teacher always tells me looking after yourself is all well and good, but it's also easy." Midnight returned as his scroll beeped, he removed it from his pocket and flicked it open, the notification read a message from Qrow and he glanced up.
"Well, thanks for showing me this place, the food was good," Midnight thanked genuinely as he got to his feet "Oh and before I go," Midnight reached into his coats pocket and removed a thick piece of black ribbon "Use this to cover your ears, I found it makes life in general much easier."
Blake took the piece of cloth with a quick nod, she glanced up for a moment before tying a small bow over the top of her ears "Well, thanks for buying me lunch and for this." She pointed to the bow.
"No problem," Midnight nodded "I'd say extend my kindness onto someone else, but your all about looking after yourself, so how about you try and come up with a dream for yourself instead."
"Departing words of wisdom from a brat, how I have fallen." Blake lamented sarcastically.
"Hey, we brats view the world differently, our advice isn't always terrible." Midnight countered "Oh, I also suggest this store if you ever need any help, tell em Midnight sent you believe me they'll help."
Midnight removed a small business card from his pocket and handed it to the girl in front of him, she turned the card over a few times before pocketing it, Midnight gave her a last two fingered wave as he disappeared around a corner.
It had been a long time since Midnight had been to Ruby's home, the words haunted and old definitely sprung to mind looking at the rotting wood that made up the front of the house, although it was still structurally sound it still looked like something out of a horror movie, Ruby's dad really needed to fix the place up.
Midnight took a deep breath and pushed the large gate open, the hinges squeaked in a familiar way and he smirked as he entered the front yard, the garden by the force of a some small miracle remained intact, although that might have been Tai's way of preserving Ruby's mothers memory, true to her namesake she really did love roses.
"MIDNIGHT!" The call started as a far off ringing before eventually stringing into his name, his head snapped to the side passage of the house in time to see his old childhood friend quite literally disappear from in front of him, rose petals fell around the ground where she was and a sudden force hit his chest and sent him careening backwards onto the pavement with a grunt.
Midnight's eyes trailed down to see Ruby grinning up at him "Hello." He greeted calmly.
"Don't 'hello' me get off," Midnight complained and the girl obliged scrambling back to her feet "It's been awhile."
"Yeah, four years and you didn't even write me." Ruby complained crossing her arms over her chest.
"Well to be fair I only had a basic understanding of writing for awhile cause academics aren't high on Qrow's list of really important things to learn so anything I did write you would have been very short and mostly pointless," Midnight countered "Besides I have a scroll now."
Ruby's eyes lit with slight excitement as he flipped the device from his pocket "I've had it for three hours and it's already made life infinitely easier, I don't know how people lived before these things."
"Well we sent birds or we yelled really loud," Qrow quipped as he entered the yard "Hey there kid, nice shiner."
Midnight rolled his eyes "I know I shouldn't be fighting right?"
"No, of course not fight to your heart's content just don't lose it'll slander my name," Qrow countered taking a sip from his flask "I hope the guy who gave you that is eating pavement."
"He and four others," Midnight replied with a shrug, that was a much easier explanation "Jayce said the alterations for my weapons will be finished tomorrow."
Qrow nodded his head "Well don't let me keep you from your long awaited reunion." He waved as he sauntered back into the host.
Midnight glanced at Ruby, the girl actually looked starry eyed "What?" He asked in confusion peering around himself.
"You actually look kinda like a real huntsmen." Ruby squeaked
Midnight stared at her blankly, he gave her a quick once over, she was wearing a black blouse and waist cincher with red lacing over the front, a red hooded cloak, finished with a black skirt and leggings "You actually kinda look like a real huntress yourself red."
"Oh how original wolf," Ruby countered boredly, before he face lightened slightly "Oh I remembered something!"
"Congratulations?" Midnight responded unsurely.
Ruby rolled her eyes "No, it's gonna be fun I swear, it'll be like a secret mission."
Midnight was actually kind of intrigued as the girl stepped towards him and looked around, checking to see if people were listening "So, usually I spar against Yang later on in the afternoon when she gets back from school but today she said she had something to do and said we'd skip it today."
"And I should care because?" Midnight asked tilting his head.
"Because she was wearing 'girl clothes'," Ruby placed the words in quotations using her fingers for emphasis "Yang never wears girl clothes."
"Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't clothes like not alive," Midnight responded faced scrunching in confusion "I mean it's not like they are actually boys or girls, it's just….clothes."
Ruby made a displeased sound between a groan and a grunt "I don't have time to explain the ins and outs of guys and girls clothes to you right now, do you want to help me follow my sister or not?"
Midnight ran a hand through his hair and shrugged "Sure why not, if this turns out to be super boring though you owe me ice cream."
"Why ice cream?" Ruby asked in confusion as the two moved towards the side gate and positioned themselves to wait for Yang to leave.
"Cause I happen to feel like it," Midnight replied matter of factly "So how's training coming along for you anyway anything interesting happen?"
"Not really I'm starting at Signal next year but I've already started building my own weapon," Ruby began simply, Midnight lifted his eyebrows as a gesture for her to continue "It's a scythe and well, a customizable high impact sniper rifle."
"Cool," Midnight responded as he peered around the corner "My weapons are getting tweaked at the moment, they'll be done tomorrow maybe we can have a match?"
"Maybe, I don't need a weapon to wipe the floor with you though." Ruby shot at him.
"I'll have you remember that I am one in the lead right now." Midnight reminded her and she pouted and crossed her arms.
"Trust you to bring up old stuff," Ruby complained before sticking her tongue out at him "If Yang's doing something interesting today we'll be even again you know."
"You're on." Midnight shot back at her.
They heard the front door open and the pair flattened themselves against the wall, Yang moved down the stairs and to the gate briskly, only giving her surroundings a quick glance as she exited the gate and pulled it closed behind her.
Ruby had been correct, she was dark orange sundress and a white pull over coat, as well as a pair of small golden bracelets that Midnight had never seen before, the pair darted forward quickly but silently, staying far enough back that Yang wouldn't spot them if she turned around, although she never really did, she appeared to be talking to herself as she walked, like she was psyching herself up for something.
The two shared a look when Yang abruptly stopped, Midnight nodded to Ruby and the pair crept forward slowly, there was a low wall jutting out from one of the buildings and the two took cover behind that.
There wasn't really all that much to look at around them, there was a movie theatre across the street, a café beside that and then a number of apartment buildings occasionally broken by a small stall or vendor, Midnight glanced at the time displayed on the side of the movie theatre, it was mid afternoon now, just passed four thirty.
Yang leaned against a street light and looked around, clearly waiting for someone, whoever she was waiting for seemed to arrive, she perked up a bit and smiled widely with a wave, the two peered in the direction she was watching and Midnight's eyes widened when he spotted familiar black hair and amethyst eyes, although they were alight with something he didn't recognize.
"Sorry I'm late, the old man is a slave driver lately." Jayce sighed as he arrived, he scratched the back of his head slowly and grinned.
"No, it's fine I got here probably like four minutes ago." Yang replied waving it off calmly.
Ruby frowned, when Midnight dropped behind the small barrier and she leaned down "What's wrong?"
"The guy she's with, he made my weapons for me before I left and he's making the alterations to them, he said he had an appointment later that he couldn't miss, I didn't even think about it." Midnight explained as he glanced at them.
"I still don't get why Yang was being all secretive about this, she's just going to the movies with a boy." Ruby complained peering at her sister calmly.
"I'd keep it a secret too," Midnight replied "I doubt your dad would be happy to find out she's going on a date."
"A date?" Ruby questioned
Midnight nodded in response.
"You have no proof of that, they could just be going as friends." Ruby countered
"Yeah, your sister would definitely wear a dress for an outing with a friend," Midnight replied sarcastically, he gestured with his head for Ruby to follow him and the two moved forward, continuing to follow after Jayce and Yang silently, they were two people behind them in the line and kept their heads kind of low in order to stay out of sight "And he totally just paid for everything, it's definitely a date."
"Or he's just really nice." Ruby countered, although she sounded unsure of herself.
They reached the counter and glanced at the theatre the other couple entered, Midnight glanced at the movies quickly and his face blanked slightly as he removed his wallet, he opened it, the thought occurred to him that he was broke, that was until he saw the small fortune in his wallet and he frowned "Uh, two tickets to whatever is showing in theater two." Midnight asked quickly, glancing at Ruby, there was no way she slipped him the cash, the only other person to get close to him was Qrow, Midnight thought back to the slightly mischievous glint in the man's eyes and quickly realized that he must have slipped it to him at some point while he was talking to Ruby.
"Do you want anything?" He asked casually
"Well it's the movies so you've gotta have popcorn," Ruby replied logically with a small smile, Midnight nodded to the cashier and the woman smirked in response as Midnight placed some money on the counter "I wonder how my uncle would react if he knew about this." Ruby wondered with a smirk.
Midnight tilted his head "He'd most likely make a joke about it, something about a wolf and little red riding hood, I'm sure of it."
Midnight accepted the two tickets and what seemed like an absurd amount of change, he opened his mouth to question it and the clerk seemed to realize what he was about to ask before he said it "Oh, we have a special discount for couples."
Midnights throat quickly became very dry, he glanced at Ruby who was much too occupied with the popcorn, so apparently she didn't hear the cashier "Uh, we, yeah, uh, thanks." Midnight stuttered the words out and pocketed his wallet quickly.
The two moved into the back corner of the theatre silently, they could easily see Yang and Jayce from their seating position, Ruby glanced at Midnight for a moment and he chuckled nervously, she frowned at him "What is this movie anyway?"
"Oh, apparently it's a romance." Midnight answered as he glanced at the tickets.
Ruby groaned in annoyance "But romance's are boring."
Midnight just shrugged "You get popcorn and it's not like we are here to watch the movie anyway."
"Good point." Ruby conceded with a nod as she stuff another handful of the buttered confection into her mouth.
As the theatre darkened Midnight found the tiredness he had shaken earlier that day decided to rear its head and he sank a little lower in his chair, as his eyes grew heavier he peered around a little more, the theatre was relatively empty around five or six couples spread around the seats not including Yang and Jayce and himself and Ruby.
His eyes drifted to his partner as his head lulled back slightly, she had managed to position the popcorn so she didn't have to hold the contained but could still easily eat handfuls of it whenever she wanted to, so her other hand rested a few inches from his own on the armrest between them.
Midnight glanced at Jayce and Yang, he watched Jayce fake a yawn and let his hand fall over Yang's shoulder, the blonde didn't seem to mind and she leaned towards him slightly "Oh, 'the move' how cliché." Midnight chuckled
Ruby turned to him with a confused look on her face "The move?" She asked
Midnight sat up slightly "Qrow told me about it in one of his semi-drunken rants about random things, sitting in the theater," He gestured between the two "Fake a yawn," However Midnight actually yawned stretching his arms over his head, he let it fall over Ruby's shoulders "And tada! The move."
Ruby actually blushed slightly at the contact, she hid the action behind a quick handful of popcorn, Midnight was mostly too tired to be bothered moving his arm again and he just relaxed in that position, unconsciously giving Ruby's shoulder a light squeeze.
Ruby watched her friend silently, she could see he was struggling just to keep his eyes open, she watched his head lean back, he flicked it up in a last ditch effort to rouse himself but it failed and he fell back with a light thud, she shifted ever so slightly and his hand tightened on her shoulder, she shifted enough to lean against his arm more comfortably and glanced at her sister for a moment.
She wasn't sure if it was the rhythmic sound of his breathing or the fact that the movie was mind numbingly boring, but her own eyelids began to grow heavy not long after, unlike Midnight she didn't bother trying to keep herself awake, she simply curled in slightly and made herself comfortable.
"Soooo, should we wake them up?" Jayce asked as he titled his head glancing at Yang calmly.
The blonde rubbed at her chin for a moment, her eyebrow lifted slightly and she removed her scroll, he heard the snap of a picture being taken before she turned to him and smirked "Now we can wake them up."
"Too late," Midnight cracked an eye open the gold iris focused on Jayce after a moment "You put off your friends weapons for a date."
Jayce shrugged "Hey, I made the date plans before you turned up."
"You make a compelling argument," Midnight rubbed his eyes and his ears twitched as he shifted slightly and shook Ruby lightly "Okay, movies over and we got caught you can wake up now."
Ruby's eyes fluttered open and closed again for a moment "Wha-what?" She stuttered tiredly.
"Comfy sis?" Yang asked
"Supremely," Ruby replied in her drunk from tiredness state as she curled into Midnight a little more, the gravity of the situation around her seemed to slam into her all at once and she bounced up in her chair with a squeak "I mean, ah, Yang whatever are you doing here?"
Midnight unwound his hand from behind his small friend stealthily and rolled his neck, keeping the heat from rising to his cheeks by sheer force of will alone.
"Well, I was trying to go on a normal date," Yang explained calmly "But my nosy sister and her friend followed me."
"Whaaaat?" Ruby responded as if surprised, the group just stared at her blankly and she chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head.
Midnight's scroll beeped and he started slightly as he cracked it open, his face turned serious as he looked at Jayce "How long will it take you to finish my weapons?"
"I actually got a fair bit done, maybe an hour max?" Jayce replied glancing at the faunus curiously.
"I'm going to need them quickly." Midnight stared at his friend for a second, Jayce nodded his head quickly.
Midnight pocketed his scroll "Sorry to cut your date short Yang." He lowered his head quickly and Yang just shrugged.
"I kind of expected this to happen when I spotted you two," Yang replied "I'll take Ruby home."
The four moved from the theatre quickly and departed in separate directions, Midnight and Jayce walked along silently.
"Soo, Yang huh?" Midnight asked
"Ruby huh?" Jayce responded
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Midnight returned flatly
"Sure, whatever." Jayce replied flashing his palms calmly
"You should have kissed her goodbye." Midnight noted simply.
Jayce colored slightly "I'll pass on doing that in front of my friend and her sister thanks."
"Wimp." Midnight taunted
"I won't put your weapons together." Jayce threatened.
"I'm terribly sorry." Midnight bowed his head and clapped his hands together quickly.
Jayce just laughed in response.
They set a good pace to From Dust Till Dawn, they greeted Jayce's grandfather quickly and darted into the back room, Midnight trailing close behind Jayce as the boy led him into his own room, his weapons were still in a few pieces on a large work bench.
"In order to make them into a great sword I needed to remove the punch dagger functionality, you've got two swords now, each one is a half of the great sword, your ranged capabilities have two parts, one the blade of the sword snaps down working like a sawed off shotgun you can load rounds here," Jayce gestured to a long barrel running down the length of one of the blades "When you split the sword into its two small swords, you can use them in their original pistol form."
Midnight nodded his head quickly "Perfect thanks."
The pair remained silent as Jayce went to work at re-assembling the weaponry, Midnight sat on the boys bed calmly and watched his scroll in case he had to leave faster, true to his word, it only took Jayce an hour to put the new weapon together.
The great sword was massive even by the standards of other swords in its class, the blade easily larger than him, it wouldn't be a permanent problem, the hilt and cross guard were almost built into each other at the edge of the hilt the blade curved around the edge of his hand on either side, Jayce quickly gestured the three transformations in front of him, rotating the hilt caused the center of the blade to split right down the center, the two smaller swords were simply put two halves of the larger sword with completed hilts, a small ring was placed on the edge of the hilt, Midnight threaded his finger through it and it allowed him to rotated the blade in a rapid spin, he shifted them into their pistol form by snapping the ring down to the bottom of the hilt, all three transformations fit his hands like a glove and he grinned slightly as he shifted them back into swords and slammed them together, Jayce handed him the weapons new holster, currently the only way for him to carry the large sword was across his back but he'd make the alterations as needed.
Despite its large size the weapon remained freakishly light as Midnight snapped it onto his back he held out his fist and Jayce bopped his own against it "I'll see you when I get back and I want the whole story on you and Yang met, I'm sure it'll be interesting."
"Sure thing," Jayce replied with a grin "Let's hope you don't have to leave so abruptly next time."
Midnight nodded before something occurred to him "Oh, can you get my contact information to Ruby, I meant to do it earlier but we got caught up."
Jayce inclined his head quickly and Midnight gave him a quick salute as he left the shop.
Midnight met up with Qrow on the outskirts of the city and silently fell into step behind his teacher.
At the time the boy wasn't aware he wouldn't return to Vale for six years.
A/N: Ah, finally done, this chapter is actually the longest single whack I've ever written, I tried to keep it as edited as I could but it's bound to have a few more errors than normal, please point any you notice out to me and I'll work on fixing them as I go.
So, the next chapter will have another time skip, I realize this story maybe moving a little quickly, but it's mostly due to the fact that if I took the time to write out every little thing there'd be a lot of boring stuff, so I am trying to get into the main cannon material a little faster regardless I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing this iteration of this chapter and for anyone wondering Ruby and Midnight were a little under 11 years old in this chapter, putting Jayce and Yang at 13, since it's a two year age gap and to be completely honest, Jayce and Yang wasn't going to be my original intention for this chapter, but it sort of sparked a scenario and I thought it'd be interesting to write and I am actually quite fond of it, so I'll flesh Jayce out a little more over the course of the story but he will remain as more of a secondary character so don't worry too much about that!
Sorry again for the long wait for this chapter, as I said at the beginning with my schedule opening up I'm hoping to write a little more frequently so hopefully it won't be as long a wait until the next chapter and so I'll see you guys in the next one, peace!