Damn I can't stop writing this story! I just love it so much! I do plan on having a flash back sequence at the end of every chapter, except for some weird ones. Now then, here we have the first day of school taking place. How wonderful. Also, in case anyone was wondering, their typing has carried over, but only in small amounts.
For example, Lucas is a fighting-steel. So if you hit him with fire, it would still hurt him quite a bit, but not nearly as much as it would if he was a Lucario. Make sense? Same goes for their resistances. Dark types don't really hurt Lucas/Lucario that much still. Basic attacks don't have an element, but are not classified as normal type moves. Just attacks. Dust and Semblances have elements/types though. So this is important to note.
Now, since they're kinda weird, they almost have multiple Semblances, but they aren't super strong like most people's. For example, Lucas can manipulate Aura, but not form a full staff anymore, which is why he has the metal stick. Aura Spheres are much weaker, and his double team counter doesn't have as much lasting time and is not as strong or fast.
Just some food for thought about how they work. Also, since I am basing this off Pokken, they may have some moves that are not necessarily in the Pokémon games. For example, Darkrai in Pokémon mainly uses dark type moves, like Dark Pulse and Dark Void. In Pokken (If you haven't seen gameplay then look it up) He can use these crystal things and such.
His power is definitely more enhanced in Pokken, which I likey! Darkrai is my second favorite Pokémon. Can you guess the first? Lol! Third is Garchomp. Now then, my plan is for things to be light hearted for a bit, then they may darken slightly, before getting happy again... Then we'll reach season three... Shite. Not looking forward to writing that. I have it planned out, but don't look forward to it.
Also, whenever there is a very intricate fight that is going to be kinda crazy, I'll put a cue for a song in bold. Just so you know. There is one this chapter, and it should fit kinda well with the combatants.
Anywho, here we go!
Lucas rose from his pillow slowly, stretching and yawning. He moved his tail so he wasn't sitting on it. He scratched behind his ears, leaning into it before falling off the bed.
"Crap." To make it worse, Garon, who tended to roll in his sleep, fell off his bed, and right onto Lucas. Mew had been awake, making coffee with the machine they had been allowed to have. It was mainly for Mew though, since he had trouble waking up in the morning and heard coffee could help. He certainly didn't enjoy the taste though. So he made sure to load it up with plenty of sweetener. He turned to the noise, his cup of sweetener with coffee floating in front of him with a blue hue around it.
"Oh my." He flicked his head, Garon being lifted back into his bed. Lucas thanked him, standing but grasping his chest and flopping back on the floor. Garon snorted, shooting up and falling on Lucas again. Though he was awake this time and rolled off him.
"Sorry about that, Luc." The Jackal stood, shakily and held a finger up.
"Oh it's fine. Hell, let's make it three." He then fell on the ground. Garon looked down at him and shrugged.
"Ok."
"No, no! Sarcasm! Agghh!" Mew merely laughed at the scene when they all turned to the window being opened, Shade floating in and staring at the shark and Jackal on the floor. He raised his hands up and started to leave when Lucas kicked Garon off him.
"Don't leave. Ignore that. Misunderstanding." Shade gave a blank stare.
"I'll say." Now it was Lucas' turn to give the stare.
"Let's just get ready and get some food. I take it everyone is up though, Shade?" The shadow shook his head.
"Not the team of assholes." Lucas gave him an annoyed look.
"I thought you weren't going to come back until everyone was awake?" Shade shook his head, merely crossing his arms.
"You put the idea forward, and I decided to think about it. And I don't agree." Lucas rubbed his head, but ignored the wraith and got ready. They headed out the door at 8 o'clock, heading for the cafeteria for food. When they arrived they saw they were the only ones.
"This is weird." They all nodded, not sure who said it, but agreeing with it. Shade sighed.
"Guess everyone is setting up their stuff for their first day back." They grabbed their food, settling down and eating. Only one other person joined them, but sat far away. They had almost mistaken her for a Lopunny when they saw her rabbit ears. She eyed them with slight fear before Mew nodded to her. She made her way over, sitting next to them without a word.
"Greetings." She smiled at Mew, who gave a head bow while levitating food to his mouth. Garon shook his head in distaste.
"If you only do that you'll grow weak! Gotta keep your muscles up, mate!" Mew shook his head.
"I prefer the saying 'Brains over Brawn' Garon. They have served me quite well up until this point, thank you very much." Lucas chuckled.
"Someone's pride is bruised." Mew just looked away, continuing to eat his food. Shade had finished his quickly, but kept his regal habits. He could never explain why he acted the way he did. He bowed to people, almost always had a straight posture. As if he was royalty. It irked him, and even when he tried to be more like Garon, loud and boisterous, he couldn't hold a slouch for more that a few seconds before straightening again.
"What is your name?" Lucas was now looking at the girl.
"Velvet. Nice to meet you. Are you all Faunus?" Shade shook his head.
"Human. But to be honest, I find the Faunus far more agreeable than the humans here. Most of them are assholes." Velvet turned red at his statement, seeing a darker, male version of Coco in front of her.
"That's one way of saying it." Garon hit the table, scaring only rabbit girl.
"I could beat 'em any day!" Shade sighed, standing and walking away.
"I'm going to walk around for a small while. I will see you in class." Velvet turned to the others and frowned.
"What's wrong with him?" Mew gave a sad smile.
"He just, doesn't know how to handle people." Garon chuckled, leaning back as his laugh seemed more like a growl.
"Coming from you!? Ha! That's rich professor!" Mew slammed his head on the table, groaning in annoyance.
"Now I realize why he left." Lucas just laughed at the display.
"Welcome to the little group, Velvet. In case you didn't know, you need anything, ask us. Even Shade. He acts like he doesn't care, but he does." She nodded, smiling to the Faunus around her. It felt like being in a pack, and she liked it. The wasted a small amount of time before realizing they had classes in ten minutes. Velvet had the same class as them, Grimm studies. So she showed them the way, arriving a few minutes before the first bell.
They sat next to Shade, who had his arms crossed and eyes closed at a table on the right side of the class, middle row. Velvet said she needed to be in the front, since her vision wasn't very good from far away, and when they said they'd move she told them they were fine, and they could sit together in another class. Only to be surprised when Shade picked up his pack and silently walked to the front row, sitting in the middle chair. Lucas just laughed.
"Guess that settles it. He likes you." Velvet turned red, not sure how to take that phrase. So they sat, watching as the class filled up. She saw some of the normal bullies, some of the making faces at her, or pretending to pull her ears as they sat. They did stop when they felt a darkness in the air and saw a black shadow wrap around Velvet.
"No." She jumped at the voice, realizing it came from Shade. He was glaring at them, only to look back forward, his eyes open, but the one still hidden under his floating hair. She didn't know why only the back floated and the back stayed over his eye. The darkness around her faded, but she could still feel it. She slightly smiled at him.
"Thank you." He didn't reply, just looking at he from the corner of his eye, and then slightly bowing his head. The bell rang, exactly when teams RWBY and JNPR flew through the door, causing everyone to look in their direction. Professor Port merely stared at them.(?)
"Try to be on time next time. Now then, today, I will tell you all a tale about a daring Huntsman! Me!" Shade immediately created a copy of himself and fazed through the floor, whispering to Lucas.
"If he calls on me poke the copy." Lucas smirked as the shadow moved along the ground before going out the open window. Eventually Port began listing the qualities of a good Huntsman, and asked who thought they were worthy of the title. A girl immediately shouted she was. They turned to see it was Weiss Schnee, and she looked angry. Mew ducked down slightly.
"Something's going to break. And I don't need a Semblance to see that." Lucas only nodded while Garon chuckled. Lucas poked the image, Shade coming back a half a second later.
"What was the question?" Lucas shook his head.
"Something's happening, and I thought you may want to see it." Shade nodded, waiting as Weiss came back, combat clothes on. Another thing Shade and his companions hated about this place. The uniforms. They were allowed to wear add-ons to allow more personalization. Mew had his over cloak on, so his uniform was visible, but he still had his cloak.
Lucas didn't have a tie, instead leaving that missing and leaving the top button undone. Garon only had the dress shirt, not wearing the fancy coat. No tie, and he had the top three buttons down, as well as having the sleeves rolled up to his fins. He kept his boots, and the bottom of his pants were slightly ripped. His fin had ripped through the shirt, leaving that in the open. He had actually ripped off the sleeves after their first class, leaving him without them.
It was certainly comical watching him use his teeth to rip the sleeves off before ripping them to shreds, then throwing them in the trash. Even Shade had smiled at that. Shade's was the normal outfit, but he somehow managed to get the red spiked collar onto his coat, meaning his face was mostly hidden as per usual. When asked how he attached the spikes, the shadow just smirked, and faded away.
"Don't worry about it." That was their answer, so they didn't worry about it. Now they were in history class, watching the zipping teacher speed through the class, giving information on the Faunus. Then he asked the question they were all waiting for.
"How many of the Faunus in here have been mistreated because of who they are?" Every single Faunus raised their hands, including the three. Velvet slowly raised her, as if she was afraid to be made of for being made fun of. Lucas nodded to her, and she bravely raised it now. Unknowing to them, Shade was in his shadow form, tying the laces of the bullies together.
The professor continued his lesson until class was dismissed, but everyone was confused when all the bullies face planted. Lucas and Mew gave a knowing glance to Shade, who just ignored it and left. They caught up to him and thanked him.
"Guess the tables are turned now, eh?" Shade turned to Lucas in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Lucas chuckled.
"When we first had you join us, we defended you from people, and now you're doing it for us." Shade didn't respond and just walked forward quietly, until Garon decided to talk.
"Aw, I think he's blushing, guys!" They chuckled, even when Shade swiped his hand, a large shadow hand with claws slapping the back of Garon's head. The shadow then picked up walking speed. Lucas chuckled.
"Now he really is!" Shade didn't turn, not wanting to find out if he was or not. He just closed the door behind him, barring it with crystals. That would buy him about five minutes until Garon got bored and smashed it to pieces. Al least combat class was next. He didn't necessarily want to fight, but would if the opportunity arose.
"Alright class, today we'll be going over two styles of fighting you will have. They include single battles. One versus one. Or double battles. Two versus two. They each require a certain finesse and strategy to them that makes some people better at one, while others are better at the other. We'll start off with a single battle. Who wishes to go first?" Garon immediately rose his hands, shaking them wildly.
"Mr. Echo, please come down." Garon pumped his fist, getting an eye roll from Shade. Garon waited for his opponent, his arms crossed confidently over his chest. A small girl came down, a wand of sorts in her hand. She seemed to be based around the color orange and red, and had a fox tail. She didn't have the ears of a fox from what they could tell, seeing as her hair was done in a fashion to look like large fox ears, which could have been hiding her real ones.
"Name's Flare, and I'm going to beat you!" Garon chuckled, stomping on the ground and cracking it.
"You're welcome to try, shrimp!" The girl puffed up her cheeks angrily. She swung her staff, a ball of fire flying forward towards Garon. It looked like it would hurt, until the shark just swiped his hand though it.
"That's it? Ha! This'll be easy!" He rushed her, swinging down with his fist, only to hit the ground when she dodged, shooting more fire at him. The flames did nothing to stop him as he continued to swing at her, only to continue to miss, causing the people watching to laugh. His team, however, knew what was going to happen, and braced for the inevitable explosion.
Garon swing horizontally, having actually drawn his weapons at this point. She jumped over him, firing two blasts that know his weapons out of his hands. Before he could turn, he felt a powerful fire bolt his head, causing his head to slightly move forward. He froze, not moving, while the girl chuckled happily. Then Garon slowly turned to her, his eyes now red and filled with anger, causing her to take a precautionary step back.
"Knock that shit off!" His voice boomed through the arena, surprising even Goodwitch. He suddenly pulsed with energy, stomping his foot on the ground as he Mega-Evolved. He stomped on the ground a few more times, nearly blowing up the floor around him. The girl looked terrified now, firing a large stream of fire at him when he started to run at her. She kept up the stream, thinking she was holding him back when he burst through the fire, slamming his scythe hand down on her.
The force sent her recoiling against the ground, but knocked her back to her feet, where she staggered. Garon roared, jabbing her repeatedly with his left scythe, causing her to slightly lift off the ground with each hit. Then he spun, hitting her with a powerful uppercut from his right scythe, causing her to soar into the air. HE spun after the punch, his back now to where she would fall. He felt energy collecting in his right arm and a red glow came off it.
"Suck on this!" He turned, punching right into her gut, a sonic boom coming from his fist when it collided with her body, where she seemed to freeze against his fist for a second before rocketing into the wall, almost blowing through the six feet of pure concrete. Garon jumped up, slamming his scythe hands into the ground before standing straight up and roaring. He then changed back and looked around.
He looked up at the screen, seeing her aura had been completely destroyed while his was in the low 90's.
"I had thought she damaged me more. Hehe." Lucas shouted down to him.
"You gave yourself five percent damage when you punched her with enough force to send her from 50 percent to 0." Garon rubbed the back of his head, walking back to his allies, and getting different responses. Lucas smiled, telling him not to almost kill his next opponent. The shark just chuckled uneasily, as they watched the student be carted away on a stretcher. Mew just told him what openings he had seen, and how to approve.
Shade just shrugged.
"I think you got her." It was more than Garon usually got from the wraith, so he took it with a smile and a grain of salt. When the arena was repaired by Goodwitch she turned to Garon and gave a slight stare, before pushing up her glasses.
"Next we will have a two on two battle. Any volunteers?" They saw Cardin Winchester, the same guy who knocked Lucas off his staff and a boy with a simple sword. Cardin pointed at Lucas and grinned.
"I want to take the mutt on!" Shade started to stand, but only got a look from Lucas.
"I'll handle this. Mew, care to join me?" Mew thought about it, standing and ruffling his cloak.
"Usually I try to avoid unnecessary violence, but you need a partner, and I know Shade would kill him and Garon would get close." Shade just grunted and turned away. Garon pounded his fists together.
"I'll break his legs!" They heard Nora from JNPR shout her approval from across the room. Garon merely gave a thumbs up. It was his little secret, but he loved having fingers. It made life so much easier. The duo made their way down to the arena, merely talking to each other calmly.
"You ready for your beat down, mutt?" Lucas looked to him, confusion on his face before turning to Mew.
"Is he talking to us?" Mew nodded calmly.
"I believe so. He knows who he's up against, yes?" Lucas shook his head.
"Apparently he does not." Cardin growled at them, spinning his mace above his head.
"You being smart with me!?" Lucas grinned.
"If I was would you be able to tell?" Cardin thought about it for a few seconds before realizing what Lucas had meant.
"You're so dead!" Lucas saw him begin to charge but turned to Mew.
"I kinda want to go after him for the whole kicking my staff thing. Could you take the other one?" Mew nodded, slightly looking over.
"Cardin sure does look mad."
"And he's getting closer."
"So it would seem. Have fun." Lucas grinned, ducking under Cardin's swing while Mew warped behind Dove, using his powers to turn him around. Mew calmly ruffled his cloak again and smiled.
"Class is in Session." Lucas casually dodged Cardin's swings, just watching and pointing out the openings in his head. Eventually he had enough, and moved to the side of a downward strike, grinning to Cardin before kicking him in the face. Cardin backed away, stunned, only to feel multiple quick strikes to his body. Then he felt a sweeping kick that almost knocked him over, before seeing Lucas' back to him, and a aura infused elbow flying towards his face.
When the blow connected, multiple things happened. The first being Cardin feeling like his face was melting from the heat of the aura. The second was the kinetic pain from Lucas' elbow. And the third being launched flat on his back. He stood, seeing three Lucas' as they all drew the metal rod, turning it into the aura staff.
"I'll put you out of your misery now, Cardin." Cardin growled, rushing the Jackal, only to have his side swing ducked under, and a pain to his chest as he felt the staff hit him. He swung down, missing again, and receiving a hit to his knee. He feel to his injured knee, seeing the end of the staff approaching quickly. It hit his nose, knocking him on his back, only to have Lucas land on top of his, spin his heel on Cardin's face, and stomp down with his other foot. Lucas did a front flip off Cardin and saw the bully had a small amount of aura left.
"Let me fix this." Lucas held his staff in both hands, walking to Cardin's legs, and moving them apart, while the injured bully shook his head.
"Please, no! I beg of you!" Lucas held the staff high, every male in the audience unknowingly shielding their manhood. Lucas dropped the staff, a loud crack coming as he missed and hit the floor, breaking it. Lucas leaned down slightly and glared at Cardin.
"Learn to play nice with others, or I won't miss next time." Before Cardin could respond, Lucas flipped his staff, slamming it into Cardin's face. He turned to see how Mew was fairing, only to be surprised when he saw Dove sitting on the ground, listening as Mew walk talking about something. Lucas sighed, face palming.
"Mew!" The psychic turned, seeing the fight between Cardin and Lucas was over.
"Ah." He turned to his student and held up a finger.
"We will have to continue this at a later date. Make sure to find a date that would suit you best, and then contact me. Now, I am going to have to break your aura now." Dove paled.
"What?" Mew flicked his hand to the side, a blue hue appearing around Dove. Dove was lifted into the air, before Mew snapped, the boy being slammed into the ground and his aura shattering in one hit. Mew smiled as he walked away.
"Good. Now then, remember what I taught you, and be good."
"Yes... Sir... Ow." Lucas walked with Mew shaking his head.
"Were you really teaching a lesson in the middle of a fight?" Mew nodded, looking forward still.
"Yes. He is quite a good learner. According to him, the other two on his team are not so bad either. Cardin is just a bad influence. So I taught him about Gaia and how it helps those who are good, and that if he wanted to use it, he needed to be open minded and help everyone. Including Faunus." Lucas chuckled, shaking his head.
"Is that actually how it works?" Mew shrugged.
"Hell if I know. All I know is it makes you as strong as Garon on coffee." Lucas did not need that mental image.
"Let's just get back to the other two." The class began to carry out normally from that point on, some fight very obvious in who the winner was, others not so much. Goodwitch tapped a few keys on her large scroll before turning to the class.
"We have time for one more singles match. Any volunteers?" A hand rose, and not one they were expecting.
"Ms. Belladonna. Glad to see you're participating after sitting silently." She made her way down, and turned to Goodwitch.
"May I pick my opponent?" The professor thought about it before nodding.
"Shade." The wraith cracked an eye and looked down. He sighed, standing and starting to walk down when Lucas grabbed his arm.
"Try to avoid the nightmares, huh?" Shade looked at him for a few seconds before nodding.
"No promises though." Lucas released him and watched him. Shade took his time, slowly making his way down to the arena, almost looking like an actual wraith with how quiet and slow he was. He stepped into the arena, his arms casually by his sides. He held his regal stance, just looking at Blake. Goodwitch placed their aura levels on the screen before looking back into the arena.
Pappercut by Linkin Park
"Begin." Blake waited, seeing if he was going to do anything, only for him to stand there with a bored expression on his face.
"You asked to fight me, so fight." She ran forward, slicing, only to have him bend back and backflip away. She started to slice at him quickly, waiting for his counter attack. Eventually he grabbed her hand, stopping her blade a few inches from his neck.
"Is this all you have?" He kicked her in the gut, pushing her back. She turned back, seeing him spin with his left foot approaching her head. She used her semblance to retreat, evaluating her opponent more closely. She saw he hadn't even bothered to draw his weapon, as if he was so sure he would win. She rushed again, but this time tried to be more tactical.
She stabbed with her blade, having him move to the left, only to slash at him with her sheathe. She barely hit him as he jumped back, which caused him to grin slightly.
"Now this is getting interesting." Blake tried a similar strategy, only to be surprised when her blade was blocked by his scythe, but only the handle. He hadn't even removed it completely from his back, just enough to block her slash. He spun, knocking her sheathe out of her hands, before sending a foot into her gut. He didn't expect her to faze away and kick him in the head from behind. He stumbled forward, feeling her sweep his feet out from under him.
He rolled, getting to his feet and using one hand to stop another kick. He threw her foot up, causing her to almost hover in the air for a second, before he crossed his arms, throwing them to the sides and sending a blast of darkness into her. She went flying back, but recovered by hand springing off the ground. She saw her sheathe a few feet away, and was unsure whether to go for it or not.
She watched as Shade drew his scythe, slicing the ground behind him quickly. A copy of him was created, but it was hazy and seemed more like a shadow. He walked forward, slicing the ground again, creating a second copy. Then he sheathed his scythe, motioning to Blake's sheathe. She went over to it, picking it up while never taking her eyes from Shade. She resettled into her stance, watching him closely. She rushed forward, swinging to find him holding her hands back.
She saw his eyes flash blue and then she saw the copies fire balls of energy at her. She fazed away, firing her gun and hitting him. He was surprised, and looked to see his aura was just reaching yellow. He growled, seeing Blake's was at the same level as his. He held his right arm to the side, black energy coating it, before it changed to be completely black, taking the form of his true self.
Blake was so stunned she didn't notice the ground underneath her change. She felt multiple hands grab her legs and start to drag her into the ground. She tried to fight it, but couldn't stop her panic from rising. She reached her hand up, hoping someone would help her, only to have everything go black. She sucked in a breath, seeing she was in a place that looked exactly like the arena, but there was nobody there, and there was no color. Just shadows moving in the stands, some writhing and others not moving. She then turned, seeing Shade standing with his arms crossed, looking at her.
"Welcome to the shadow realm. My world. Here, I am in charge." Blake saw multiple shadows moving around, wondering what was happening in the real world.
When Blake had been dragged under, Shade slowly sunk down as well. Everyone started to panic, until Mew got their attention.
"This is part of Shade's semblance. Don't worry. They are still fighting. You can see their shadows still." Everyone looked to see a shadow that looked like Blake's, while a shadow that looked more like a hellish monster was where Shade was. Mew grumbled to himself.
"If you were trying to send a message, Shade, you most certainly did."
Blake looked around in a confused manner.
"I don't get it." Shade walked forward, and she noticed his eyes were glowing blue now, instead of being a calm icy blue.
"Everything in the normal world is copied here." She looked around, then back to Shade.
"What's so different about this place?"
"I'm in charge here. Anything I want, will happen. But I need Gaia to keep others sustained in here. The ceiling and ground are fragile however." She looked up, seeing that the roof of the arena was actually just writhing shadows. The floor looked normal to her though.
"I don't get it." Shade shook his head.
"This place is a distortion of time and space. The floor is actually the ceiling in the real world, and the ceiling is the floor. If I smash you through the roof, you'll blast out of the floor in the real world. And vice versa." Blake nodded, then got ready to fight.
"And if I launch you through the roof?" Shade chuckled, both his arms turning to the black arms of his true self.
"You will have my respect." He rushed forward faster than she thought possible, wrapping his hand around her throat. He threw her back, warping to where she was flying before punching her into the floor, cracking it like glass. In the real world, a black crack appeared on the roof, shadows coming through it. In the shadow realm, Shade created giant shadow arms, and punched at Blake, only to have her faze behind him and slice him. But she realized too late it was a copy, and she felt herself be stuck in place by shadowy tendrils.
She saw Shade looking at her, but he looked very different. He looked like a giant shadow monster, a single blue eye blazing on his face. Then she recognized it. The monster from her nightmare. She tried to scream but couldn't. She wanted to give up, but kept standing. Shade had large claws slam into her, pinning her before they formed a bubble of shadows around her and lifted her into the air. She saw the monster form if Shade close in, his large clawed hands on either side of her bubble, before one grabbed it, and she shouted in pain.
Then she felt the bubble getting crushed, before the hand broke it, causing it to explode and crush her. She felt her aura on its last legs, and her consciousness wavering. Shade moved his arm, the shadow arm doing the same. He spun his arm, throwing Blake to the roof, where she smashed through it, breaking her aura. In the real world everyone watched as the floor cracked before exploding with shadows and black glass as Blake flew into the air, then slammed into the ground. Shade slowly rose from the same spot she was launched through, before it sealed behind him.
Blake looked up, seeing Shade holding a hand towards her. She took it, being lifted up. She felt tired, but more mentally than physically. Shade merely looked at her before backing up and giving a one armed bow. He didn't say anything else before walking away. She didn't know what that meant, but got her answer when Mew seemed to appear next to her and smiled.
"I do believe her enjoyed your fight. You made a good impression on him. You didn't freeze up did you?" She shook her head, still trying to get the image of Shade's monster form out of her mind.
"Good. He enjoys fighting the strong willed. Also, word of advice for next time, since he will ask to fight you again. He enjoys kicking a lot, so watch out for that. He blocks with his hands mainly. And he's pretty good with his scythe. Also, he can only hold you in the Shadow Realm for so long, so don't focus on fighting him. Just survive. You won't be warped back, but he will tire, and all you have to do it give him a good hit upwards. The floor is moderately strong, while the ceiling is weaker than normal glass. I need to go, have a nice day, Ms. Belladonna."
She was surprised that he was giving her such information. Normally teams would safeguard each other's weaknesses, but the way Mew made it sound, Shade wanted to lose. She returned to her team to have them worry over her. She explained that she was fine, but decided not to tell them how to fight Shade. She decided that if Mew believed he could trust her not to tell everyone, she would not betray his trust.
That team was certainly weird to her though. And she wanted to find out more about them. Shade was just a very interesting person as it was, almost acting like he wanted to be Faunus. Lucas was a Jackal she had never seen before, and his fighting style seemed more based towards a monks fighting than anything else, making her curious about him. Then there was Garon, a shark Faunus, or so they told her. But he looked weird. Sure he had the teeth and dorsal fin. But the ones on his arm, and the coloring of his fins. Not to mention most aquatic Faunus had gills, while Garon lacked those, almost like he was some sort of land shark.
Then there was Mew. She couldn't match him to any type of Faunus. She almost thought a type of cat, with his tail always slowly swishing like one and his calm nature. But closer inspection showed his tail was something else entirely. She didn't want to pry, but her curiosity was getting the better of her, and not because she was a cat Faunus in disguise. She was tempted to just find Shade when he was alone, since he seemed likely to tell her. Mew seemed like a good choice, if it wasn't for the fact he was always around a team member.
Then she remembered something. Shade caused nightmares, which meant he wouldn't be around Beacon at night. So all she would have to do is follow him after dark and get her answers. There was only one flaw with her plan. He could enter this shadow realm whenever he wanted, meaning she had no way to track a shadow at night when he wanted to disappear. She needed to think this over more.
The four ate their lunch semi-quietly. Meaning Lucas and Garon were the main ones talking, while Mew listened and Shade watched. Eventually they saw teams RWBY and JNPR walking towards them, causing them confusion.
"Mind if we sit here?" Lucas motioned them to sit, while Shade just moved over slightly. They sat, and suddenly the table was much louder, which was weird since Shade didn't find it annoying. Or maybe, he just didn't find the people around him annoying.
"How did you do that shadowy death attack thing!?"
"Nora?" Shade looked up at Nora, the red head smiling at him bubbly. He shrugged.
"I've always been able to do that. Not sure how or why, but I can." Mew shook his head.
"You just use your Gaia. We've been over this. Unless you weren't paying attention again... were you?" Shade decided to mess with him. He looked over suddenly, giving a confused glance.
"Sorry, were you saying something?" Mew gave an annoyed glare while Lucas tried not to choke.
"Did Shade just make... a joke?" Everyone was quiet before Shade growled.
"I'm not completely moody you know." Garon smiled.
"Could have fool me." A shadow hand grabbed the shark's food tray, slamming it in his face. Garon just blinked a few times before licking his face.
"At least it's delicious." Shade gave a blank stare, not sure whether to slam another tray into the shark, or just hit him outright. Yang looked between them and smirked.
"Does this happen often?" Lucas sighed, slowly eating.
"Unfortunately." Everyone started to laugh, while Shade just smiled. Maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as he thought.
Back at the dorms, Shade was heading to the window, when Mew called to him.
"Expect a visitor tonight." Garon chuckled.
"And I thought Shade was cryptic." Mew used his powers to know the shark out, smiling at his handiwork. Shade just nodded, jumping out the window.
"I'll be fine." He hit the ground, and began to walk away towards the forest. He slowly started to sink into the ground. Blake watching him from a distance. She started to walk when she heard someone clearing their throat. She turned to see Mew somehow next to her.
"You need to stop doing that." He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Doing what?"
"Appearing everywhere. That seems more Shade's job, don't you think?" Mew shrugged, turning to the cat Faunus.
"He won't come out unless you seek him where he hides." Blake tried to think what he meant when she frowned.
"I don't understand."
"The Shadow Realm isn't just a mirror of the normal world. It's also the realm of nightmares. You want to find him there, you'll have to suffer the torment to reach him." She nodded, watching as Mew walked away, heading back inside. She started to head out to the forest, looking around. She saw a tree in the distance that was pale and dead. She decided that would be a good place. She sat down, leaning against it.
She started to fall asleep, hearing nothing but nature around her. She closed her eyes and felt sleep take her.
Shade had thought he was alone, in his realm of shadows, when he felt another presence a small distance from him. He walked towards it, seeing Blake. He remained hidden, knowing she wouldn't see him, but rather a nightmare version of him. She looked around, seeming fine in the realm of darkness.
"Shade. Where are you? I want to talk." Shade growled, hating her persistence. He had acted like he didn't notice her little off questions at lunch, but knew exactly what she meant behind them. He decided the best way would be to scare her awake and then have her leave in fear. It worked on everyone else he did it to. He stepped out, waiting for her to notice him. She turned, gasping and placing a hand over her chest.
"There you are." Shade raised an eyebrow. She wasn't scared? This was new. Unless he wasn't quite as strong as he used to be.
"Why do you look so... demonic?" She said it with a slight chuckle. Shade looked at himself and hissed in annoyance. He looked like his true self, not his human form.
"Leave. You shouldn't be here." Blake smirked.
"If this is a nightmare, it's not that scary." Shade clenched his fists. Now she was asking for it. He changed into something he sensed she was afraid of. A man with a Grimm mask and a red kitana. She backed away.
"A-Adam?" Shade saw true fear in her eyes and decided to keep pushing.
"Hello, Blake." He didn't like this guy, whoever he was. Blake kept backing away, but was shaking in fear now.
"Shade, this isn't funny." He could only imagine how much her actual body was turning in it's sleep. He changed to his human form, glaring at her.
"I bring only darkness where I go, Blake. That's why I come out here." She shook her head.
"I saw you in my nightmare on the first night here. Why do you do this?" He turned away.
"I don't have a choice. I am the bringer of nightmares. You want happy dreams, find my opposite and steal a Lunar Wing. If not, then don't talk down to me like I have a choice. Why do you think I hid myself away for the majority of my life?" She didn't say anything, and they remained quiet. Shade just chuckled darkly.
"Got nothing to say to the demon?" She stuttered, before shouting at him.
"Maybe you should stop acting like one if you don't want to be treated like one!" Shade paused. Sure he pushed people away, but he didn't try to be a monster. Unless he had started acting how people said he did, without realizing how far he had fallen. He turned to her, narrowing his eyes.
"Why do you suddenly care?" She stepped forward, keeping a straight face, hiding any fear she had. He could sense it, but fear was something all people felt, even him. The key was hiding it.
"I can tell you've suffered through things. Just like me. I want to talk. I will admit, I first came here looking for answers about you and your friends. But Mew made me wonder if that should be the priority." Shade chuckled, walking away, only to have Blake follow him. For every step he took, she took two. He stopped, turning on her suddenly, the shadows around him hissing in slight pain.
"Leave me. I... I just need to be left alone. It's worked my whole life, it should work the rest of it." Blake shook her head.
"I won't let you wind up like me." Shade paused, going into a more casual stance.
"What do you want to know?" She smiled at him, walking forward until she was in front of him.
"What is up with you and your team? You're nothing like anyone I've ever met." Shade chuckled, crossing his arms.
"You've certainly got that right. We are basically just powerful people who got the wrong end of the stick from fate when we did something moderately stupid to save people." Blake didn't understand what he meant, but he just raised a hand, knowing she was going to speak.
"I cannot tell you much, so you'll have to ask Mew for those answers. If he deems it necessary, he'll tell you. Otherwise, I will say no more on that subject. Any other questions?" She thought before looking him straight in the eye.
"How long have you been hiding your pain from the others? They see it you know." Shade flinched, almost like he had been hit.
"Since I first met them all those years ago. I know they see it, but I don't care. I am trying to redeem myself, Blake. Something that I need to do alone, and sometimes the best way is to shut out everything, and damn yourself as recompense." Blake frowned at him.
"That's not fair. Nobody deserves that." Shade gave a sinister grin.
"You would change your tone if you knew what I've done." She wanted to argue when Shade disappeared and wind whipped past her quickly. She saw a village being formed around her, the buildings on fire and people screaming for help. She watched as they ran, realizing it was a memory of sorts as people ran through her and didn't stop when they did so. Then she saw Shade, standing by the only exit to the village, his white hair billowing out to the sides. His blue eye blazing as he raised his hand.
The people had almost cocoons of shadows appear around them before they shook. She saw their eyes had turned red, and they looked at everyone else in fear. One person screamed something she was afraid of.
"Monster!" They all screamed at each other before they began to rip each other to shreds. She felt her breath catch in her chest, and she closed her eyes, trying to drown out the screams of pain around her. She looked up, opening her eyes to see the Shade of the past with a look in her eyes that made her question what he was telling her. He had tears rolling down his face, only seeing them because the light of the moon made them glisten across his face hidden in darkness.
The memory faded, and she saw Shade standing by where his past self was, tears on his face.
"That was the third one. I had done it to a total of six. Six entire villages of people cut down by me. Do you know how that feels? To watch as you do that but you can't do anything?" Blake was confused.
"What do you mean?" Shade cracked, turning into his true form and roaring at her.
"He made me do it! And I didn't fight back! I watched it happen, and did nothing! How am I supposed to make up for what I've done!?" Blake shook, walking forward slightly, but stopping.
"I don't know, but you can't give up either. And if someone made you do it and you had no control, wouldn't it be their fault?" Shade hissed, floating away quickly. Blake took off after him, stopping to see him by a pale tree where her shadow was imprinted against it. She noticed that instead of hovering, two spindly legs had lowered from his body, and he stood on them with his arms down and fists clenched.
"The others bring light wherever they go. I bring death and darkness. I don't see why they keep me around, and it is killing me. Whenever I ask, they just tell me I'm a friend. How could they see me as their friend!? After everything I've put them through!" He slammed his fist into the tree, and Blake felt herself shake slightly. Her real form had probably been jolted by his attack on her perch. The fact that his shadow form was strong enough to shake the tree was evident enough of his turmoil. Blake walked forward, standing beside him and looking at the tree as he redrew his fist.
"Maybe because they believe in second chances. Do you?" Shade remained quiet.
"I was a member of the White Fang. But when they became violent I left. I wanted a second chance at life. I wanted to be a huntress. Someone who helped people who had suffered like me. I believed in second chances before, but thought it was something based on luck. Then I met you and found out about you. And my view on second chances has changed." Shade lowered his head, worried what her next choice of words would be.
"Now I know that everyone, no matter what, has a chance to them. Whether they take them or not is up to them, and proves if they are truly good or not. The fact that you accepted your second chance is proof enough that you are worthy of absolution for what you were forced to do. But if you give up and doubt yourself, then you throw away your chance. So don't throw away your chance. Please." Shade kept his gaze on the floor, suddenly turning and getting close to Blake's face, hovering off the ground again.
"And if you're wrong?" She stared at him.
"I'm not. If you fail, it was of your own accord." Shade lowered to the ground, looking away. He changed to his human form and started to walk away. He then turned back, walking to the tree and placing an open hand on it. There was a white light, and when it cleared, Blake was back in the normal world. She saw Shade's hand down, offering her help back up. She smiled and took it.
They both looked at the tree, seeing a white, clawed hand print on it. Behind it was the shattered moon, and Shade merely chuckled.
"I think I know what my symbol is now." Blake smiled.
"What?" He pointed to the tree, and moon.
"This." Blake nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I agree. I know you can do this. And if you ever need help, you can always come to me, or your friends. They're there for you too." Shade nodded, turning to her and giving a warm smile.
"Thank you, Blake." They stood there for a few more minutes, looking at the tree and moon. Blake eventually grew tired, saying she was going to return to Beacon. She asked what Shade was to do, and he just shrugged.
"Don't want to give people nightmares, so I'll stay here. Sweet dreams, even if I can't give them." Blake hugged him.
"We'll just have to see." She left, the wraith looking up at the moon.
"Stupid Mew, seeming to know everything that's going to happen. Too bad he can't tell me about anything that's life or death important. Unless he just wants to watch. Asshole." Shade spent the rest of the night watching, seeing as the moon dipped below the horizon, and the tree slowly showing the signs of the approaching dawn. Shade started to walk away when he saw something on one of the branches. A single, small white and black leaf. He smiled, turning to head back to Beacon.
He was going to take what she said to heart.
"What should we do?"
"I don't know. What do you propose?"
"I-I don't know." Eyes slowly opened to see three people around him, looking down on him.
"Hey, you're up."
"You ok?"
"Hope we didn't hurt you too bad." He didn't move, just silently going over everything that had occurred the past few months. A few tears slowly fell down his face. They noticed and frowned.
"You going to be ok?" He only muttered two words.
"I'm... Sorry..." He was back in control, but at what cost? How many had died by his hands? The hands of a shadowy monster. A creature of nightmares and horror. The hands of a Darkrai. But then he remembered who had caused it. And he glared.
"I'll kill that bastard for what he's done!"
And there we go. this one was pretty damned long, wasn't it? Now then, I hope you guys enjoyed, since I had fun with the nightmare combat, and the nightmare sequences with Blake. No, they are not shipped yet. They are just good friends right now, who can depend on each other. I am going to spoil this... They are not going to be shipped first. Someone else will be shipped with someone else first. I'll let you try to guess who. It should and shouldn't be obvious. Now then, we will be getting mainly Lucas' point of view next chapter, just so you guys know.
Hope you all enjoyed (Didn't I already say this?) So keep calm and may the Aura be with you! Make sure to ask your questions and I shall PM you your answer back. (Unless I can't, at which point I will get creative and send Cain to go give you your answer. Don't as who that is, or he'll haunt you) Peace!